





COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 













A 










REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS 

--—OF THE—^- 

AMERICAN 

MINING 

CONGRESS 


NINTH 

ANNUAL 

SESSION 


Denver, Colorado, October 16 to 19, 

1906 

PublisKed by 

The American Mining Congress 
At the Office of the Secretary 
Denver, Colorado, 1907 






S . i' -i i ■, •• V-, 

v' 'l; 1 ; V ' 







J/1 

3 

REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS 

- OF THE - • 

AMERICAN 

MINING 

CONGRESS 


NINTH 

ANNUAL 

SESSION 


Denver, Colorado, October 16 to 19, 

1906 

Published by 

The American Mining Congress 
At the Office of the Secretary 
Denver, Colorado, 1907 







LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Tvw) CoolBS Roceived 

MAI? 30 1907 

/ Copyrtzht Entry 

Jo Jpl 

CLASS A XXc., No/ 

' W/. 0 


Copyright 1907 by the American Mining Congress 

Denver, Colorado 



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a » * 



Western Newspaper Union, Printers, Denver. 




/ 


Index 

Alaskan-Pacific-Yukon Exposition . 106 

Apex Laws . 96 

Auditing Committee, Report of. 132 

By-Laws, Amendment of . 126 

Cleary, John, Telegram . Ill 

Corporation Laws. 72 

Credentials Committee. 19 

Credentials Committee, Report of. 30 

Denver Real Estate Exchange, Endorsement of Mine Fraud Law.... 71 

Delegates, List of. 30 

Destroying Identity of Ore. 107 

Directors, Election of. 137 

Financial Statement of Secretary. 131 

Fraud Law.:. 272 

Discussion of. '54 

Forest Reserves, Gifford Pinchot. Message. •.. 101 

Fraudulent Promotion Schemes, Investigation. 109 

Guggenheim Hall Dedication Committee to 'Attend. 28 

Graded Freight Rates on Ores . .’. 72 

Good Roads. 107 

Invitation of Colorado Traffic Club.... 20 

Invitation of School of Mines... ..;. 20 

Invitation of Colorado Scientific Society... 44 

Increased Acreage for Coal Land Entries.;. 84 

Members, Special Meeting of. 126 

Members, Annual Meeting of. 131 

Metal Quotations Discussion.f. 89 

Members. List of.. 35 

Mine Drainage District Law . 269 

Discussion of...73, 83 

Officers. Election of. 124 

Place of Next Session— 

Douelas, Ariz. Ill 

Goldfield. Nev. 112 

Joplin, Mo. 113 

Discussion of.114, 122 

Pacific Land Grants, Mineral Lands. 108 

Prevention Fraudulent Entries._. 123 

' Prospectors Soliloquy . 24 

PAPERS AND ADDRESSES. 

President’s Annual Address, (Hon. J. H. Richards.). 141 

The Develonment of the Metal Mining Industry in the Western 

S^^ate, (Waldemar Lindgren). 1.56 

The Mining and Mineral Resources of Utah, (John Dern). 166 

The American Institute of Mining Engineers, (R. W. Ravmond). 178 

Recent Imnrovements in the Cvanide Process, (F. L. Bosqui). 186 

Mine Drainage Districts, (D. W. Brunton). 195 

Discussion of Same .43, 46 to 54 

Motion to Re-Commit. 53 

The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelting Trust and the 

Ore Producer, (Senator E. M. De La Vergne). 199 

Response, (Franklin Guiterman). 206 

Discussion of Same.86, 92 

Mining in the Joplin District, (Chris. Guengerich). 213 

The Enforcement of Mining Laws. (Charles L. Dignowitv). 217 

Mining and Mineral Resources of Wisconsin. (W. O. Hotchkiss). 220 

The Geological Distribution of Gold. (T, A. Richard). 226 
























































4 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 

The Prevention of Mine Accidents, (Edward W. Parker). 234 

Copper Deposits of Washington, (Albert W. Mclntire). 238 

Recent Litigation Involving Questions of Alleged Damage From 
Tailings, Tailings Waters and Smelter Fumes, (Prof. F. W. 

Traphagen) . 251 

Discussion of Same. 99 

Needed Legislation for the Protection of Forests, (Lewis B. Aubury) 256 

Alaska and It’s Possibilities, (Joseph T. Cornforth). 260 

Amendments Advisable to State Mining Laws, Affecting Mining 
Operations, (Wilson I. Snyder)... 264 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Committee on . 28 

Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, (Mclntire)...69, 106 

Committee on Legislation, (Joseph).29, 94 

Department of Mining, (Pardee). 44 

Committee on Ways and Means, (King).45, 61 

Committee on State Legislation, (White). 84 

Destroying Identity of Ores Before Settlement, (Colburn).70, 107 

Discrepancy in Metal Quotations, (Joseph). 46 

Official Report on Mines, (Herrick).69, 103 

Location of Mining claims on Mexican and Spanish Land Grants 

(Prince) ..'.70. 95 

Submission to Interstate Commerce Commission of Question of Graded 

Freight Rates on Ore, (Patrick). 72 

Uniform Corporation Laws, (Downey). 72 

Increased Acreage of Coal Entries, (Thomas). 84 

Good Roads, (Jackson).93, 107 

Pacific Land Grants Covering Mineral Lands, (J. Aaron Ingalls). ..93, 108 

Apex Laws, Repeal of and Substitution of Side Line Laws Governing- 

Lode Locations, (W. R. Ingalls). 96 

Same, (Geo. W. Riter). 61 

Safety in Mining Operations, (W. R. Ingalls)...*.46, 97 

Relation Ore Producer and Smelter, (Joseph).102, 106 

Relation Ore Producer and Smelter, (De La Vergne). 109 

Resolution of Thanks. 108 

Methods to Prevent Fraudulent Mining Operations, (Clark). 109 

Co-operation with U. S. Government in Preventing Fraudulent Agricul¬ 
tural Patents to Mineral Lands (Holmes).110, 123 

SPEAKERS. 

Aubury, Lewis E. 256 

Bosqui, F. L. 186 

Brunton, D, W.43, 195 

Buckley, Dr. E. R. 15 

Brooks, Gov. B. B. 20 

Clark, Miss Clara.14, 120 

Cornforth, Joseph T. 260 

Cutler, Gov. John C. 12 

Crawford, Capt. Jack. 23 

Collins, George. 48 

Colburn, E. A. 112 

Cooney, F. H. 117 

Daniels, Wm. P...46, 52, 63, 90 

Dern, John.89, 91, 101, 120, 136, 166 

De La Vergne, Hon. E. A.85, 199 

Dignowity, Chas. L. 217 

Ewing, Thomas.25, 116 

Elliot, Ezra T. ..26, 66 

Edwards, H. W. 104 

Guiterman, Franklin.88, 206 


















































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 



Guengerich, Ch. 

Gregg, Col, H. H. 

Holmes, Dr. J. A. 

Hotchkiss, W. O. 

Hunter, Robert F. 

Heimer, J. P. 

Herrick, R. L. 

Ingalls, W. R. 

Joseph, Hon. H. S. 

King F. B.. 

Lindgren, Waldemar. 

Mclntire, Hon. A W. 

McDonald, Gov. Jesse F.. . 

O’Ryan, Father Wm. 

Parker Edward W. 

Pardee, Gov. Geo. C. ... 
Prince, Hon. L. Bradford 

Peck, I. F. 

Raymond, Rossiter W. . . 

Richards, Hon. J. H. 

Rickard, T. A. 

Riepe, Richard A. 

Snyder, Wilson I. 

Speer, Hon R. W. 

Sperry, E. A. 

Sigafoos, R. B.. 

Traphagen, Prof F. W... 

Thomas, Kirby. 

Wire, Frank E. 

White, F. Wallace. 

Weaver. J. L.. 


. 213 

. 113 

. 53 

. 220 

. 98 

. 51 

.58, 103 

.18, 89 

49, 86, 118, 134 

.21, 115 

. 156 

.106, 238 

. 9 

. 9 

. 234 

.12, 44, 54, 67 

.95, 97 

. 50 

. 178 

10, 14, 138, 141 

.25, 226 

. . . .14, 112, 121 

. 264 

. 9 

. 62 

.....'. 66 

.99, 251 

. 16 

. 60 

. 115 

. 117 


Smelter Rate Investigation. 106 

Secretary’s Report. 131 

Ways and Means Committee. 45 

Wyoming Mineral Resources. 20 

Wisconsin Mining History. 16 


I 






































Official Roster 

Of the Officers and Committees of the American Mining 
Congress, Eighth Annual Session, Held at El Paso, 

Texas, November 14-18 
19 0 5 

OFFICERS. 


Hon. J, H. Richards, President.Idaho 

Col. Thomas Ewing, First Vice President..'.California 

Dr. E. R. Buckley, Second Vice President.Missouri 

Mr. A. W. Gifford, Third Vice President.Texas 

James F. Callbreath, Jr., Secretary.Colorado 


BOARD OF DIRECTORS. 

Hon. J. H. Richards, Idaho; Col. Thomas Ewing, California; Dr. E. 
R. Buckley, Missouri; A. W. Gifford, Texas; John Dern, Utah; J. Frank 
Watson, Oregon; Joseph T. Cornforth, Alaska; George W. E. Dorsey, 
Nebraska; William Lennox, Colorado. 

PROGRAM COMMITTEE. 

Dr. E. R. Buckley, Rolla, Missouri; Seeley W. Mudd, Los Angeles, 
California; J. F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado. 

LEGISLATION COMMITTEE. 

J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho; J. M. Wright, San Francisco, Cali¬ 
fornia; J. Warner Mills, Denver, Colorado; O. W. Powers, Salt Lake 
City, Utah; P. W. Kimberly, Chicago, Illinois. 

TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE. 

A. W. Gifford, El Paso, Texas; Col. A. G. Brownlee, Denver, Colorado; 
John C. Spry, Chicago, Illinois. 

FINANCE COMMITTEE. 

Col. Thomas Ewing, San Francisco, California; James W. Malcolm- 
son, El Paso, Texas; F. Wallace White, Cleveland, Ohio; George W’. E. 
Dorsey, Fremont, Nebraska; David H. Moffat, Denver, Colorado. 

AUDITING COMMITTEE. 

W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado; Lyman White, Denver, Colorado; 
John Dern, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE. 

E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado; H. H. Nicholson, Lincoln, Nebraska; 
M. P. Kirk, El Paso, Texas. 







Official Roster 

Of the Officers and Committees of the American Mining 

Congress 

19 0 6 


OFFICERS. 

J. H. RICHARDS. 

THOMAS EWING.'.. 

E. R. BUCKLEY. 

E. A. COLBURN. 

J. F. CALLBREATH, JR.. . 

DR. W. S. WARD. 

DIRECTORS. 

J. H. Richards. 

Thomas Ewing. 

E. R. Buckley.'... . , 

E. A. Colburn. 

George W. E. Dorsey. 

C. M. Shannon. 

John Dern. !... . 

James W. Malcolmson. 

J. Frank Watson. 1... , 


.President 

.First Vice President 

...Second Vice President 

.Third Vice President 

.Secretary 

.Curator 

.Boise, Idaho 

San Francisco, California 

.Rolla, Missouri 

.Denver, Colorado 

.Fremont, Nebraska 

.Clifton, Arizona 

.Salt Lake City, Utah 

.El Paso, Texas 

.Portland, Oregon 


COJVl M ITT EES—1905-6. 

PROGRAM. 

E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado; E. M. DeLavergne, Colorado Springs, 
Colorado; Victor C. Alderson, Golden, Colorado; 'Edward H. Benjamin, 
San Francisco, California; C. Willard Hayes, Washington, D. C. 


BUILDING. 

David H. Moffat, Denver, Colorado; E. A. Colburn. Denver, Colorado; 
A. J. Spengel, Denver, Colorado. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Sam F. Dutton, Denver, Colorado; A. G. Brownlee, Idaho Springs, 
Colorado; Edward J. Wilcox. Denver, Colorado; Henry I. Seeman, Denver, 
Colorado; J. F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado. 

MEMBERSHIP. 

E. G. Reinert, Denver, Colorado; J. F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colo¬ 
rado; E. M. DeLavergne, Colorado Springs, Colorado. 

MINE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS. 

D. W. Brunton, Denver, Colorado; E. Lyman White, Denver, Colo¬ 
rado; F. J. Campbell, Denver, Colorado; Phillip Argali, Denver, Colorado; 
R. S. Morrison, Denver, Colorado; E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado. 

MINING TEMPLE. 

J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho; E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado; Col. 
Thomas Ewing, San Francisco, California. 

DEPARTMENT OF MINING. 

Hon. R. W. Bonynge of Colorado, Hon. Francis Newlands of Nevada, 
Hon. C. M. Shartel of Missouri, Hon. Marcus A. Smith of Arizona, Hon. 
William Sulzer of New York. 

STATE LEGISLATION AGAINST MINING FRAUDS. 

Hon. George C. Pardee, Sacramento, California; Hon. Robert M. 
LaFollette, Madison, Wisconsin; Hon. Joseph W. Folk, Jefferson City, Mis¬ 
souri;* Hon. Eben W. Martin, Deadwood, South Dakota; Hon. Fred T. Du¬ 
bois, Boise, Idaho. 

















Officers for the Year 1907 


PRESIDENT, 

J. H. Richards. 

VICE PRESIDENTS, 

Thomas Ewing, E, R. Buckley, 

E. A. Colburn. 

DIRECTORS, 

J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho. 

Thomas Ewing, Vivian, Arizona. 

E. R. Buckley, Rolla, Missouri. 

E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado. 

George W. E. Dorsey, Fremont, Nebraska. 
W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado. 

John Dern, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Charles M. Shannon, Clifton, Arizona. 
James W. Malcolmson, El Paso, Texas. 

SECRETARY, 

James F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado. 

CURATOR, 

Dr. W. S. Ward, Denver, Colorado. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Thomas Ewing, E. A. Colburn, 


W. F. R. Mills. 









OFFICERS AND 


DIRECTORS 



THOMAS KAVINf; 
\ i<*t‘ 

\’ivi:iii, Arixoiiji 


l)H. K. R. RLTCKIA^^V 
S«“«M»inl \'i<*e President 
R<>ll:i, Miss4Miri 





IltiN. .1. H. Rlt'lIA RI>S 
I’resideiit 
Roise. Idaho 


IIOIV. 1^:. A. COI.RURIV 
'I'liird \’iee President 
Denver, Colorado 


.IAS. I\ t'Al.l.RRC^A’ril. .lit. 
Se»*retJir> 

Denver, t'olorsido 















AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 



JOIIIV DEIIN 
Snll liJikc ('ity, litjili 




.IAS. \V. >I\I.COI-MSON 
101 I’mmo. 'I'ex.MM 


A\. I\ R. RlliliS 
Deiivor. ('<»l4»r:i<lo 


















Report of Proceedings 

of the 

Ninth Annual Session of the American Mining Congress 


The Congress was called to order at 10:30 a. ni. Tuesday, October 
16, 1906. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Let the Congress be in order. We will 
now have the invocation by Father William O’Ryan. 

FATHER O’RYAN: O, Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, 
we, Thy children, assembled in conference, place ourselves in Thy care 
and holy keeping. We gladly claim Thy Fatherhood; we acknowledge our 
dependence upon Thee and our responsibility to Thee. Direct, we beseech 
Thee, our deliberations and actions by Thy holy inspiration and carry 
them on by Thy 'gracious assistance, that every work and design of ours 
may begin in Thee and through Thee be happily accomplished, through 
Christ, our Lord, Amen. 

Will you join with me in the prayer that is all of ours, the Lord’s 
prayer? 

Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy king¬ 
dom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day 
our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who 
trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from 
evil. Amen. 

THE PRESIDENT: We will now have the pleasure of listening to 
an address of welcome by Honorable Jesse F. McDonald, Governor of 
Colorado (Applause.) 

GOVERNOR MCDONALD: Mr. President and Ladies and Gentle¬ 
men: I am very glad indeed to welcome this meeting of your Congress 
to Colorado because mining is the only business that I pretend to knov; 
anything about. It seems to me that on account of the prominence of this 
State in the mining world, as well as its central position, and the va¬ 
riety of its mineral resources, it is the proper place for holding the ses¬ 
sions of this Congress and for its permanent headquarters. Our metallifer¬ 
ous mines this year will produce more than sixty million dollars worth of 
ore and our coal mines more than eleven million tons. These are just two 
of our principal mining items. I sincerely hope that your meeting here will 
be as pleasant and as profitable to yon as it is to us. (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT: We will now listen to an address of welcome by 
Hon. Robert W. Speer, Mayor of the City of Denver. (Applause.) 

MAYOR SPEER: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen: No word 
of welcome is necessary for the City of Denver to the mining men of 
this country. The “59-ers,” in quest of gold, laid the foundations of this 
city, and ever since that time a stream of wealth from the mines in yon¬ 
der hills has fiowed within our gates and been largely responsible for 
the building and the development of this city. 

You represent an industry which has been one, which is one, of our 
parents; you are as welcome to Denver as any father or mother ever 
was to the home of a loving child. You are welcome to the best that we 
have, and we are conceited enough to think that we have the best. 

We believe there are but few of our own people who fully realize 
the great advantages and the wonderful possibilities of this city. Denver 
stands without a rival within four hundred miles in any direction, the 
queen of an undeveloped empire. The scenery of Switzerland is more 
than duplicated at our very doors. We invite our tourists to see the best 
by seeing their own country before they see the foreign countries. (Ap¬ 
plause.) 



10 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


You gentlemen know very well of the increase in the mineral out¬ 
put of this State from year to year. Our fruits, grains, sugar beets, pota¬ 
toes and melons are known everywhere on account of their superiority; 
but the greatest asset we have is our health-giving climate. The pure 
air, the healing sunshine, the snow water, the cool, restful nights, are 
nature’s remedies that bring the color back to the faces of the sick and 
the dying. All over this country people are wanting to exchange wealth 
for health; and the time is not far distant when we will, on a large scale, 
exchange the one for the other. Nature must have been in love with this 
entire western country, for she hid within her hills and her mouniains 
her richest minerals. We have been scratching a little here and there, 
but we have only been working in the ante-chamber and have not yet 
entered the great store-rooms of wealth beyond. 

I understand this Congress is organized for the purpose of bringing 
abbut changes and improvements so as to best promote and encourage 
the mining industry and to prevent, as far as possible, mining frauds of 
every nature. You want to make it impossible for an eastern man to say 
in the future, what may have been said in the past, that a western mine' 
is but a hole in the ground with a liar at the top. 

Denver is the main entrance to this entire Rocky Mountain region. 
It is the main eastern entrance, and it seems to me that it is but fit and 
proper that this meeting should be held here and that you gentlemen 
should have selected Denver as the place for your permanent head¬ 
quarters and that you will erect in our midst a mining temple devoted 
to and worthy of the mining industry. 

There is more hope, greater expectations, in the mining industry than 
in any other industry known to mankind. Where will you find a happier 
man than the prospector, with his pack animal, living alone in the moun¬ 
tains, communing with nature, expecting to be a millionaire next month, 
or, at the most, next year? No man or woman who can afford to spare 
a few dollars should refuse to help develop a prospect, and if the money 
is wisely spent, no investment offers greater inducements lhan that of 
developing prospects. You expect every week to be notified of a strike 
and to be free from want for the balance of your life. When you go to 
the mine you are the first one after every blast to go down and look at 
the rock or the mineral and note its improvement. There is great com¬ 
fort and satisfaction in owning a paying mine, for you do not take your 
wealth from other people, you create new wealth, clean, untainted, and 
you have started out to help and to bless mankind. (Applause.) Every 
citizen, I care not v/ho he is, owes a debt to our mines, and they should 
all be willing to do what they can to advance the mining industry. 

It is a pleasure for me, in behalf of Denver, to extend to you the hand 
of hospitality, the freedom of the city, the love of our people. May this 
meeting prove a blessing and be profitable to each one of you and result 
in great good to the mining industry of this country. (Applause.) 

4 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: My friends, as President of the American 
Mining Congress I feel sure that we all rejoice at this welcome of the 
Congress to the fraternal household. This (Congress had its birth in this 
State; it started here upon its field of usefulness. It has been to some 
extent like the prodigal son, wandering in foreign lands and to some ex¬ 
tent engaged in riotous living, but it suddenly came to itself and realized 
that the proper thing to do was to acknowledge its sins and reform and 
return to the father’s household. (Applause.) We rejoice at this wel¬ 
come because we recognized it afar off, and we are now here, and in this 
generous welcome and feasting and music and dance we feel like saying 
that it is not necessary to kill any fatted calf or break any cask of 
wine; we sort of feel that ditch water is good enough for us under the 
circumstances, because we feel that when we come back here to this place 
v\toere we started they still somewhat doubt the integrity of purpose of 
this body in the place of its home and therefore it devolves upon us to 
demonstrate that purpose and prove to them the usefulness of this organ¬ 
ization and command their respect by what we do. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


11 


It is a splendid thing to be welcomed to this beautiful State, and, as 
the Mayor said, the grtatest asset in this state constitutes its mate¬ 
rial prosperity, I do not want to- place a strict construction upon that 
idea. I had hoped to hear him say that the greatest asset of this State 
is the great human characters that the the development of its 
wealth has produced to this nation. (Applause.) I can not understand 
of what use material wealth is except in the development of great human 
character. I know that they have produced great men in this State, and 
I know that because of their magnificent mineral and other material re¬ 
sources they will yet produce greater men than in the past, great as 
they have been, as the result of a wise development of these resources. 
W have a right to expect from this state, because of its abundant and 
bountiful wealth, the production of such characters of manhood to help 
bless this nation. We hope that in coming here this Mining Congress 
will have an influence in impressing even upon the father of the Congress, 
the State of Colorado, that material wealth is absolutely nothing except 
to the extent that it contributes to the manhood of the state and the 
nation. It is useless to talk about basing all our hopes upon these ma¬ 
terial bounties; they amount to nothing in themselves, but are wonderful 
in their wise use in developing that more lasting good of the nation and 
the state, great men and great women. We come here to-day to 
help encourage that thought, and we want everyone in this state to feel 
that this Congress will use its influence to- bring out of the great mineral 
wealth of this state that which is best in its development, giving every 
interest a fair hearing and a full and fair consideration and encourage¬ 
ment, It is simply wonderful to traverse this great state and see what 
nature has so bountifully bestowed upon it; and when we look upon this 
city, as the Mayor has said, the queen of an undeveloped empire, adorned 
with all the beauties of architecture, enduring structures, with its mag¬ 
nificent business undertakings and splendid in everything, we hope that 
we can yet add to that adornment in the years that are to come a mining 
temple that will be simply magnificent in its adaptation to the purpose 
for which it is dedicated. (Applause.) I venture to say from what I hear 
and read of the development of agriculture on that principle called dry 
farming, these great plains that lie to the east of this beautiful city will 
yet be simply a garden of orchards and homes that will be the true bul¬ 
wark of this State in the hour of trial if it ever comes again. It is your 
home life that will defend you when the great strain comes, and it is that 
home life that is going to be developed right here on these plains, and this 
queen city of the desert will be the queen city of the garden in less than 
half a century from now. These things mean something to us, because 
the home life is the foundation of American progress, beyond question, 
and it is the encouragement of that and the encouragement of an honest 
development of the great wealth that we have, and through it of honest 
manhood and a higher business standard, that we hope this Congress may 
have some influence and bearing upon these great questions. 

I had hoped that the people of Denver w^ould so appreciate the purposes 
of this great body as to give us a generous welcome by their presence; 
but we can not censure them, because we have not yet demons.trated that 
we are worthy of their confidence. But we will, because I believe this 
Congress can be one of the greatest instrumentalities for good through 
the permanency of its organization, the definiteness of its purpose and 
the high character of its membership that has yet been organized in this 
country, and we expect to prove these things, and when we do we can 
expect the support of the public and not till then. No one knows so well 
as those who have had an active part in laying the foundations of this 
organization the necessity of a clear understanding of that idea, that we 
must prove our worth by what we do, and to that extent we will receive 
the confidence and support of the public, and only to that extent. We 
therefore expect to work upon those lines, and we rejoice that we are 
welcomed here by the officials of this city and state, and we feel that we 
can promise that we can be-worthy of this great state and this great city 
in the future, and we thank them for this welcome. (Applause.) 


J2 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


THE PRESIDENT; We will now have the pleasure of listening to 
the Hon. George C. Pardee,. Governor of the State of California. (Ap¬ 
plause.) 

GOVERNOR PARDEE; Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen; Gov¬ 
ernor McDonald, and you, Mr. Mayor, will realize, perhaps, that we of 
California have much in common with the people of the State of Colorado. 
Our pioneers of ’49 and yours of ’59 were the men who conquered barren 
wastes in both cases and laid the foundation stone of two great states. 
California, first made known through her mines, has developed far be¬ 
yond the golden stage, and now her mines are but one of her many, her 
marvellous and her varied resources. You of Colorado are, I believe, 
hardly advanced beyond the first stage, in which the mining industry, 
greater than all others, is yet the lodestone which draws to you the peo¬ 
ple of other states and other nations, and yet your future is as great 
even as that of California. Your possibilities beyond the mining stage 
are great, and the time will come within the lifetime of many of those 
who are here to-day when Colorado and California will alike be noted for 
the greatness and variety of their natural resources. (Applause.) 

But there has always been more or less drawback to the mining in¬ 
dustry. As was well said by his honor, the Mayor, in his address of wel¬ 
come, too often has the mine been considered a hole in the ground with 
a liar at the upper end. The press of the country, the magazines and the 
periodical publications too often contain the advertisements of wildcat 
mining schemes, which, upon their very faces, bear the imprint of fraud. 
I was talking the other day with a mining man, and I became a little 
eloquent, because I had been beaten myself, against the mining frauds, 
and, much to my surprise, he deprecated the enactment of any legislation 
which should control the frauds in mining ventures, and his argument 
was that there was a sucker born every minute and that it is useless to 
attempt to keep the fool and his money together. Let me tell you, gen¬ 
tlemen of this Congress, that the sooner the mining industry purges itself 
of these frauds and indecencies and crimes which in the far eastern 
states have made the very word “mining” a synonym of corruption and 
fraud the sooner will the mining industry become, as it should be and 
as it in reality is, one of the greatest, and even one of the most permanent, 
and certainly one of the cleanest industries which this nation possesses 
(Applause.) Governor McDonald, I congratulate you, sir, upon your 
state. I am'^proud of California, where I was born. I am proud of San 
Francisco to-day, even in her ruins and her ashes, but I am prouder, sir, 
of my own state when I compare it with the magnificence of yours. As we 
came through the miles after miles of what but a few years ago was al¬ 
most a desert and saw even the cliffs riddled by the burrowings of the 
prospector and the mining shafts and mining tunnels, and saw browsing, 
even there, the patient burro which had brought him and his material 
there, we marvelled at the greatness and the indomitable perseverence of 
the American people, so well mirrored lorth in your own State of Colorado. 

Gentlemen of the Congress, I hope this meeting will be productive 
of great good and will bring into being such preventive mining fraud laws 
as will remove from the mining industry the stain which has been so 
long upon it. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS; We will now have the pleasure of listen¬ 
ing to a response on behalf of the Stale of Utah, by Hon. John C. Cutler, 
Governor of the State of Utah. 

GOVERNOR CUTLER; Mayor Speer, Governor McDonald and Mr. 
President; The warmth of the welcome we have received is not all in the 
words in which the welcome is conveyed. We can feel it in the very air 
of this beautiful and hospitable city. We feel it in the hand-clasp of the 
citizens; it radiates from every one. The eloquent words of the Governor 
of the State and the Mayor of the City are merely the official conveyances 
to us of the all-pervading cordiality we can not help sensing in everything 
around us and every one we meet. It is a pleasure and an honor to re¬ 
spond to such a whole-souled welcome, and in especial behalf of Utah and 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRES!:?. 


i:; 

her delegates, 1 thank the people and the citizens of Denver for their 
splendid hospitality. 

It is a source of inspiration and a cause for sincere congratulation to 
see such a representative gathering of ladies and gentlemen devoted to 
the great and richly productive industry of mining. It is an unmistak¬ 
able indication that the future of this industry is in safe hands, and that 
the wealth pouring into the coffers of the nation from this source will not 
be lessened but increased, and this is the desire of all citizens of the na¬ 
tion, especially those who live in the West. To this Congress Utah sends 
greeting. Voicing the sentiments of its people, I say speed the work of the 
miner, the prospector and the capitalist who puts his money into legiti¬ 
mate mining enterprises. The program as outlined for this Congress ap¬ 
pears to be an excellent one. The subjects to be treated are apt and 
practical and of direct and immediate interest to those engaged in min¬ 
ing. Upon one of these subjects I wish briefly to express my views on 
account of certain developments in the past few weeks. It is the matter 
of fraudulent mining schemes, promoted simply for the purpose of fleec¬ 
ing the unsuspecting, in order to line the pockets of the promoter, who 
has everything to gain and nothing to lose in the ventures. It is casting 
no discredit upon legitimate mining, but is rather an indorsement of it, 
to say that these schemes to gull the public in the name of a great and 
beneficent enterprise are reprehensible. While heartily in sympathy with 
mining as an industry, I am unalterably opposed to fake schemes, whether 
promoted in the name of mining or any other industry. They are most 
frequently promoted in connection with mines for the reason, perhaps, 
that men have been led to think that this industry is more or less in the 
nature of a gamble. Mining, on the contrary, is a legitimate field for in¬ 
telligent investment. It is not a gambling proposition. I could not con¬ 
scientiously remain the chief executive of a state like Utah and lift my 
hand or my voice against the industry which is that state’s chief source 
of revenue, and for that reason I v/ish to aid in protecting that industry 
from its worst enemy, the fake promoter. I speak of this matter nocwith- 
standing the fact that Utah is freer from these schemes than some of the 
other states, and I believe the suggestion that this matter be discussed 
in this Congress came from a few of the states that have been prolific 
fields for these nefarious enterprises. 

I trust I may be be pardoned for referring to another subject which I 
do not see on your program. My study of mining has led me to the con¬ 
clusion that the system of vertical lines is the only one that can be 
adopted and followed with profit and permanent satisfaction to all con¬ 
cerned. (Applause.) The old apex system is and must be more or less 
haphazard. It has led, and must lead, to a vast number of vexatious law 
suits causing- loss and bitterness to those concerned. It has been and will 
be a source of revenue chiefly to the lawyers engaged by the litigants and 
to the men who are paid high prices for expert services. To all others 
I am sure it will prove, as it has proved, a source of loss and vexation. 
If the system of vertical lines is adopted, it will doubtless be necessary 
for the present law to be amended by Congress so as to allow a larger 
area to be included in a claim and vested rights to be taken care of, but 
the little trouble required to such an amendment, will, it seems to me, 
be a trifle when compared with the saving of trouble and litigation vouch¬ 
safed by the new plan. 

I hope that the benefits derived by the delegates from the delibera¬ 
tions of this Congress will be commensurate with its importance and 
its auspicious opening. That our stay in this city will be pleasant is 
more than assured by the heartiness of our welcome. 

Again I thank you for these courtesies. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Is Mr. Bailey of Oregon present, or Mr. 
McIntyre of Washington? 

(To which there was no response.) 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


U 


PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I now have the pleasure ot introducing 
to you Miss Clara Clark, E. M., who will respond to the address of welcome 
on behalf of the State of Montana. (Applause.) 

MISS CLARK, OF MONTANA: Mr. President, Hon. Mayor, and La¬ 
dies and Gentlemen: The people of Montana send greeting to one and 
all of you, and we hope that this meeting will be as successful as all 
our other meetings have been pleasant. There are no people that work like 
the miners, and it is through work that this Mining Congress must come 
to the front. This is the one and only way in which we can show to the 
world the high aim that we as members of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress are looking forward to. For this American Mining Congress we 
want a high standard, and we can only get this by work. Let us leave 
out the pleasure and the display. It is the silent forces of nature that 
accomplish the results. The force of gravity holds the universe in place, 
and the silent rays of the sun work from day to day and year to year—and 
in fact in Colorado every day, the sunshiny Colorado. And this is the 
way we must work, and we must leave out the play. Of all professions 
that of mining stands for work. The miners enjoy work and are only 
happy when they are at work, and that is the way this Mining Congress 
must do, but it must do it in a silent way, giving our members who come 
up with their dues—if our delegates v.ill silently and earnestly pay their 
dues or put in a life membership in this Mining Congress—a full .■•eturn 
for the money they have invested, we can then show to the world that 
what we stand for will win, and will be, in time, the greatest mining 
organization the world has ever known. 

This morning some of the speakers referred to mining as a fake 
scheme, and I would like to say that the promoters, of fake schemes are 
not miners. The true miners and prospectors, the ones that dig and v.'ork 
and get the gold from the mines, do it in just as honest a way as the 
farmers produce the wheat and the corn. (Applause) We do not Ldame 
the farmers for the prices put upon wheat and corn, but the gamblers; 
neither should we blame the miners for the fake schemes of the pro¬ 
moters. We in Montana work in the silent way. Butte has silently but 
slowly worked its way until now we have a population of 75,000 and a 
monthly payroll of a million and a half dollars. Now, that is a moathly 
payroll from one mining camp. We have never had a boom. Our mining 
camp is never advertised. If a mine is sold for a million dollars, it is 
done as a matter of fact. There is nothing said about it, and it goes on 
from time to time, and we do it slowly but silently, and that is the way 
this Mining Congress must come to the front. We do not want grand 
displays, nor entertainments, but in this next few days we want, to get 
down to work and study the problems that are before us. 

I thank you. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is a pleasure to introduce to you Mr. 
Richard A. Riepe from that hoping, aspiring state of Nevada. (Applause.) 

MR. RIEPE, OF NEVADA: Mr. President, Members and Delegates: 
The great State of Nevada comes to this Mining Congress flushed with 
success and unbounded hopes. Our great and good people are enjoying 
a healthy growth and a well-earned prosperity. Tears of undaunted 
work demonstrate that we are entering upon a new era. The stories of 
the Great Comstock will soon be told all over again. Who the Mackeys, 
Fairs, Floods and Sharons of the future will be must be told when our 
new history is written. 

We do not come this time as the representatives of the silver in¬ 
terests, but as kings of all metals; but principally of that great red metal, 
copper. Ely and Robinson mining districts have the greatest future of 
any camp in all the western mining regions. Her output will astonish the 
most sanguine; and when I refer to output, I do not conflne myself to 
copper alone but include lead and the precious metals. 

The citizens of our town are all waiting anxiously to hear the first 
whistle of the new smelter which will be erected at McGill’s ranch, 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


15 


fourteen miles east from Ely. We have now a railroad of about one hun¬ 
dred and fifty miles through a valley that is ideal for railroad construction. 

We invite all the mining world to our small town among the the 
mountains and ask you all to join in helping build well the new Ely; Our 
doors are open to all; you need not knock—just walk in. 

Our vast mineral resources of Robinson mining district are extensive. 
There are more Nevada Consolidateds and Cumberland Elys and Giroux 
Consolidateds waiting to be explored and developed by capital. Come 
among us if you would have Dame fortune smile on you. Be of good 
cheer and just watch the banner state of mineral production once more 
take the first place in the world. Come with us if you would enjoy per¬ 
petual sunshine and happiness. Ours is the Promised Land, whence no 
traveler can turn. 

Gentlemen, Nevada brings to this Mining Congress her greetings. 
We are here as delegates from our own state to aid in the laudable work 
you are now engaged in. We co-operate with you heartily and direct 
your attention to our meagre settled little towns, and ask you to just re¬ 
member that Nevada is again the great Nevada, and she will work out 
her destiny in such a way as to reflect credit and honor on her citizens. 
(Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT Dr. Buckley of Missouri needs no introduction. 
The doctor will now respond on behalf of the state of Missouri. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Ladies and Gentlemen, Members 
and Delegates of the American Mining Congress: I need not tell you 
that I stand here to-day as a representative of four millions of people, 
the representative of a state that began mining a century before 
the mines of California were discovered. (Applause.) I need not tell 
you that the states of Colorado and California have obtained thousands 
of their best miners from the old state of Missouri. (Applause.) I need 
not tell you that in times of trouble, when the mines of Colorado and 
Idaho and California sought men, honest, worthy, true men, they reached 
out their hands to old Missouri and she responded and gave them the 
help and support that they needed. I believe that the state which I have 
the honor to represent at least bears some part in the glory of the develop¬ 
ment of this magnificent territory west of the Rocky mountains. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I believe more in quality than I do in quantity. 
My firm belief in quality and not in quantity has given me hope for the 
future of this American Mining Congress. I believe that the men that 
this Congress needs to-day are the men who have at heart the interest 
of this Congress, not five days in the year, but 365 days in the year. 
(Applause.) Ladies and gentlemen, the more men, the more mining men 
we can have who will work for this Congress 365 days in the year the 
better it will be for the mining industry of this country. 

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I have watched the growth of this Con¬ 
gress for several years. I was at the Uongress in Milwaukee, and with 
one exception I have attended all of the sessions of the Congress since 
that time. I have noted that at the early sessions of the Congress the 
- faces were constantly changing, I made acquaintances one session, I 
made new ones the next session. To-day I can look over the members 
and delegates to this Congress and renew acquaintances made at the 
former sessions, something which we could not do five years ago. That, 
ladies and gentlemen, means stability; that means that the mining men 
of this country have their hearts in the American Mining Congress, and 
this means the future success of this organization. (Applause.) 

Ladles and gentlemen, I represent a state where the people do not 
countenance fraud, illegality in elections or anything that destroys the 
honesty and integrity of her citizens. We of Missouri have placed before 
the world an example of what may be accomplished in righting the 
wrongs of a great commonwealth. (Applause.) We have thirty thousand 
men in our state engaged in the mining industry, and we can contribute 
to the promotion of the principles for which this Congress stands thirty 
thousand men who will assist in bringing about the legislation which 


10 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


this great industry needs and which the American Mining Congress de¬ 
mands. (Applause.) Later in this session, ladies and gentlemen, the 
delegation from oiir state will extend to you an invitation to meet in 
the greatest state east of the Rocky mountains and west of the Mississippi 
river. (Applause and laughter.) We will extend to you an invitation to 
meet in a state where the mining industry is not surpassed by that of any 
state in the Union. We will extend an invitation to you to meet in a 
state which has a most delightful climate, where the agricultural re¬ 
sources are as great as those of any fdate in the Union, and where dur¬ 
ing the .winter months the income from the mining industry surpasses 
that of the unsurpassed agricultural resources of the summer. Now, 
ladies and gentlemen of Colorado, Mr. Mayor, Your Excellency, the Gov¬ 
ernor of Colorado, the people of Missouri desire to extend to you their 
greetings and to thank you for this most hearty and cordial reception. 
We have been here before and we knew when we came what we were 
to receive, and we will take with us many blessings from this meeting 
of the American Mining Congress. (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT: We will now have the pleasure of listening to 
a response by Kirby Thomas of Wisconsin. 

KIRBY THOMAS OP WISCONSIN: It is very proper that Wiscon¬ 
sin should be represented at the American Mining Congress, for in this 

State occurred one of the earliest important mining developments west 
of the Allegheny mountains, and Wisconsin is to-day and has been in 
the past a large contributor to the country’s supply of lead, zinc, iron 
and economic minerals. 

The lead deposits of southwestern Wisconsin were known to the early 
French explorers, who, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, en¬ 
gaged extensively in bartering with the Indians for lead. This business 
was continued by the British and the American agents until nearly the 
end of the first quarter of the nineteenth century. In 1810 a transac¬ 
tion with the Indians, amounting to 400,000 pounds, is recorded. The In¬ 
dians guarded the mines jealously, and it appears from the early accounts 
that they' developed considerable skill in mining and smelting the ore. 
According to one record the Indians extracted from the crevices in the 
limestone, ore to a depth of 50 feet, hoisting the material by a leather 
basket and a rawhide rope. The description of the method of smelting is 
interesting. The ore was placed in a V-shaped hopper, built of flat stone, 
with a narrow slit at the bottom. Under this hopper was placed a w^ood 
fire, the flames of which, by direct heat, reduced the ore to metal. Con¬ 
sidering these facts, the Wisconsin Indians must be accredited with a 
knowledge and skill in mining and metallurgy not usually ascribed to that 
people. 

It is further recorded that the first important movement to develop 
these deposits by the white man was due to the glowing accounts of the 
district, published in the new'spapers of St. Louis, Missouri. This was in 
1822, and it may be remarked in passing that even in that early day the 
newspaper was an important adjunct to mining. In 1825 the population 
of the lead region was 200, and the production of the mines half a minion 
pounds. Three years late^’ the population had increased to 10,000 and 
the production amounted to 13,000,000 pounds for the year. The federal 
government exacted a tax of 10 per cent, of the output, and required that 
the producer should stand the expense of smelting the government’s 
share, and transporting it to the depository. This tax, which seems 
rather heavy to present day operators, remained in force until 1«48. The 
story of the development of the Wisconsin lead mines was a fitting pre¬ 
lude to the romances of western mining booms, which began “in the days 
of old and the days of gold,” made famous by the California discoveries, 
and which were repeated subsequently in a score of western camps. For¬ 
tunes were created in a night by chance discoveries in this earliest camp, 
and the strife and struggle for claims and locations furnished some most 
interesting history. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


17 


To this exploitation of the lead mines Wisconsin owes the impetus 
of its first real settlement. Galena, on the boundaries of the district, was 
an important city before there was any Chicago. 

The boom days soon passed and a substantial and important mining 
industry followed. The value of the product prior to 1880 is variously es¬ 
timated at from^ $50,000,000 to $80,000,000, for the lead, and the zinc 
product, mostly in the latter part of the period, was about one-fifth as 
much. These are not startling figures to-day, in the face of California’s 
“golden flood,” or the bounteous output of Cripple Creek, or Leadville, 
but at the time this supply of an important economic metal was a material 
addition to the resources of the nation, and the exploitation of these lead 
mines furnished both the incentive and the capital, which hastened the 
settlement and development of several now prosperous and important 
states. 

About 1880 mining in the Wisconsin district was practically sus¬ 
pended, owing to the lowered price for the metals, and on the theory that 
the deposits were worked out. Within a few years the increased demand 
for zinc, and the possibility of profitable operation under modern methods 
of mining and ore treatment led to a renewed interest in the district. 
This revival has resulted in an extensive exploitation of the camp chiefly 
for the zinc values, which were found below the workings of the early 
miners. The important and principal features of the revival of mining 
in the Wisconsin lead and zinc region are set forth in a paper prepared 
by W. O. Hotchkiss, geologist of the Wisconsin Survey, which paper will 
be presented later, and which will render it unnecessary to go into details 
now. 

The iron mines of northern Wisconsin, part of the wonderful iron 
deposits of the Lake Superior region, which have been the absolute and 
the essential basis of the enormous industrial development of the United 
States in recent years, have contributed materially to the wealth of the 
state. Recently important discoveries have been made in the south cen¬ 
tral part of the state. 

Wisconsin can lay claim to recognition at this American Mining Con¬ 
gress, not only because of its important mining operations, past and pres¬ 
ent, but because the state authorities have, from the earliest days, been 
most liberal and wise in recognizing and assisting the important industry 
of mining, particularly in the matter of providing public funds for geo¬ 
logical and scientific surveys. In territorial days the authorities appro¬ 
priated the expenses for the surveys of the lead region, by Hall and Per- 
cival, and the state, from the start provided for considerable geological 
investigation, and capped its policy in this respect by a very substantial 
appropriation for the general geological survey, which is conducted by 
Chamberlin and associates, the results of which were embodied in four 
large volumes and an atlas, invaluable to the exploiters of the state’s 
natural resources. Later the state provided for an investigation of build¬ 
ing stones and road making material by Buckley, of its clay resources by 
Ries, of the copper formation by Grant, of the new iron district by Weid- 
man, and a later investigation of the lead and zinc region by Grant. These 
Wisconsin reports, besides being of great value in the development of the 
wealth of the state, have in many cases contributed, in a direct way, to 
the general knowledge of geology and of mining. 

This liberal policy of Wisconsin, while paralleled by several other 
states, particularly of the East and Central West, is in striking contrast 
to the apparent indifference on the part of Colorado, Idaho, Utah and 
some of the other western states, to the unquestioned aid to mining, which 
can be afforded by a competent state geological survey. It is true that 
the United States Survey has done a great deal of geological work in 
these western states, but this work, necessarily fundamental in character, 
can, with great advantage, be supplemented by state work, and the exam¬ 
ple of Wisconsin, for instance, could well be emulated by these western 
mining states, with the result of establishing mining on a safer, sounder 
and more prosperous basis. 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


i« 


Because of its important mining activities, and because of the liberal 
support, which the state has always given to the mining industry, Wis¬ 
consin is entitled to be enrolled in the representation of the American 
Mining Congress. 

PRESIDENT ^RICHARDS; I am sure you will be pleased to learn 
that we have with us Mr, W. R. Ingalls of New York, who will respond on 
behalf of that state. (Applause.) 

MR. W. R. INGALLS OF NEW YORK; Governor McDonald, Mayor 
Speer, Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen; I think that the stace of 
New York Is probably more commonly regarded as the home of the min¬ 
ing promoter and the Wall street broker than a state which has an actual 
mining industry. Yet it is a fact that the state of New York, besides pos¬ 
sessing an important metallurgical industry, has a mining industry of the 
first order. There are important iron mines, mines of sulphur ore, salt 
mines and salt springs which have been worked for many years, and there 
are many mines of the less important minerals which, nevertheless, are 
of great importance in our industries. There are, indeed, few states of 
our Union which do not have an important mining industry, and it is the 
bringing together of representatives of those states and their industries 
which is a chief function of the American Mining Congress. 

The American Mining Congress is not a new organization, as is mani¬ 
fest by the fact that this is its ninth annual meeting. When the idea of 
such a body was first published there was considerable skepticism as; to 
how it would work out. The mining industry of the United States is 
widespread and its interests are as various as the points of the compass. 
It was doubtful at first whether the needle guiding the Congress would 
finally come to rest pointing toward some false attraction, or pointing 
toward the true pole of the general welfare of the mining industry. Such 
doubts as there may have been must now, I conceive,' have been dissi¬ 
pated. The enthusiasm which attended the last annual meeting at El Paso, 
the earnest work of the officers of the Congress in the meanwhile, and 
the high promise of the present meeting, mark the recognition that the 
American Mining Congress represents true interests and has work to do 
that will promote the general welfare. 

Mining is one of the greatest oi our industries. Mining and agri¬ 
culture are the basic industries. With agriculture to feed the people 
and mining to supply them with the raw material for their manufactures, 
a country is bound to continue great. It is upon these industries that the 
commercial supremacy of the United States has been achieved. There 
is the difference, however, that while the p-^oducts of agriculture repro¬ 
duce themselves, those of mining, once extracted, can never be replaced. 
It is the recognition of these principles that accounts for the recent great 
increase in mining activity, and by the same mark that increase will 
continue. The men who can secure for themselves the supply of raw 
material assure for themselves a commanding position in commerce. But 
for the same reason, our mineral resources, although great, being not in¬ 
exhaustible, it is important for us to make the most of them, and in this 
connection enters the necessity for united action on the part of mining 
men in matters which affect their welfare. This is what the American 
Mining Congress broadly aims to accomplish. 

It is fitting that the present meeting, which promises to mark a new 
ejioch in the history of the Congress, should be held at Denver, a city 
which is pre-eminently a mining city. Its marvellous growth is due to 
the mineral resources of the mountains of the West, to which it Is the 
gateway. It is a great metallurgical center and the location of a strong 
group of the most progressive of mining machinery manufacturers. The 
gold miners of the Mother Lode in California and the iron miners of New 
York look to Denver, similarly the copper miners of Lake Superior in the 
North and the salt and sulphur miners of Louisiana in the South look to 
Denver for inspiration. It is fitting, therefore, that Denver should have 
been selected as the permanent headquarters of the Congress. (Ap¬ 
plause.) 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


19 


PRESIDENT RICHARDS: In order that justice may be done and that 
injustice may not be done, this organization or any state, I desire to 
make a statement relative to an article that appeared in the Republican 
of this city, reflecting somewhat, possibly, upon the state of Utah. I do 
not want Utah or the people of Utah to attribute to this organization or* 
to its President the endorsement of the methods of that controversy at 
Portland anj' more now than we endorsed it then. It was purely an indi¬ 
vidual and personal controversy which this organization could not help, 
and I certainly never authorized any such publication and do not endorse 
it now and did not endorse it then. 1 sincerely trust the state of Utah 
will recognize this as being the truth of that matter. (Applause.) 

THE PRESIDENT: The members of the Credentials Committee are 
W. F. R. Mills, H. J. Baron and C. J. Hutchison. 

We will have with us this afternoon, to respond on behalf of the Ter- 
titory of New Mexico, Capt. Jack Crawford, whom I am sure you will 
all be delighted to hear, and he will lecture this evening in this city. 
What is your further pleasure for this morning’s session? 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Under our By-Laws, the rule 
is for the delegations from each state io select a member of the Committee 
on Resolutions, and if you will give that notice so that those members 
can be handed to the Secretary, the Directors may act upon the selection 
of that Committee on Resolutions. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The delegations from each state will, at 
their earliest convenience, suggest to the Secretary the person they 
would like to have placed from their respective states upon the Com¬ 
mittee on Resolutions. This is perhaps the most important committee 
of this organization, and we hope you will select your best men for that 
place and give the names to the Secretary at your earliest convenience. 

MR. C. P. OVERFIELD OF UTAH: I wish to ask if that custom 
does not also apply to a Committee on Credentials, that each state ap¬ 
point its own representatives. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: My recollection is that there are simply 
three on the Committee of Credentials, and the Chair appoints that com¬ 
mittee. If I am wrong I will be glad to be corrected. ^ 

A MEMBER: That is correct. 

THE PRESIDENT: What is your further pleasure, ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen? 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I move you, Mr. President, that all reso¬ 
lutions be referred to the Committee on Resolutions without reading. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The motion is out of order, to the extent 
of the reading. The By-Laws provide that the resolutions shall be read, 
that the body may be informed, so that they may appear before the Com¬ 
mittee on Resolutions; and under the By-Laws they are necessarily re¬ 
ferred to that committee; therefore your motion is not in order. 

What is your further pleasure? 

COL. THOMAS EWING OF CALIFORNIA: I move, Mr. President, 
that we take a recess until 2 o’clock. 

The motion was duly seconded and carried and a recess taken until 
2 o’clock p. m. 


2(1 OFFICIAI. PROCEEDINGS 

AFTERNOON SESSION. 

The Congress was called to order at 2 o’clock p. m. by President 
Richards. 

THE PRESIDENT: Are there any announcements to make, Mr. 
Secretary? 

THE SECRETARY: I have a telegram from Mr. Lee Aubury, state 
mineralogist of California, and also one from Mr. Horace J. Stevens of 
Houghton, Michigan, expressing regrets at their inability to attend this 
meeting. 

I also have an invitation addressed to the President of the Congress 
from the Colorado Traffic Club, which 1 will read: 

• Denver, Colo., Oct. 10, 1906. 

To Mr. ,1. H. Richards, President American Mining Congress, care 

Chamber of Commerce Building, Denver, Colorado: 

My Dear Sir—On behalf of the Colorado Traffic Club, it affords me 
pleasure to extend to you, and, through you, to the members and dele¬ 
gates to the American Mining Congress, the privileges of our club rooms, 
at No. 204 Quincy building, during your stay in Denver. 

I trust you will take advantage of this invitation and hope you will 
find your association with us pleasant and profitable. 

The badge of the American Mining Congress, when worn by your 
members and delegates, is all the introduction necessary for them to gain 
admission. Very cordially yours, A. D. PARKER, 

President. 

I also have a communication from Victor C. Alderson, president of 
the Colorado School of Mines: 

Denver, Colo., Oct. 16, 1906. 

To the Members of the American Mining Congress: 

On behalf of the faculty, board of trustees and alumni of the Colorado 
School of Mines a cordial invitation is extended to be present at the dedi¬ 
cation of Simon Guggenheim hall, ai Golden, Colorado, at 2 p. m, on 
Thursday, October 17, 1906. VICTOR C. ALDERSON, 

President. 

I also have a telegram from Mr. Gifford Pinchot, which I will read: 

Washington, D. C., Oct. 13, 1906. 

Judge J. H. Richards, President American Mining Congress, Den¬ 
ver, Colorado: 

Word from the President made necessary immediate return to Wash¬ 
ington. Exceedingly sorry to miss Mining Congress. 

GIFFORD PINCHOT. 

THE PRESIDENT: We have the unexpected pleasure of having with 
us this afternoon Gov. B. B. Brooks of Wyoming, who will respond to the 
welcome of Colorado in behalf of Wyoming. (Applause.) 

GOVERNOR BROOK: Mr. President and Delegates to the American 
Mining Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen: It is an especial and unex¬ 
pected pleasure for me to be present here this afternoon and have an 
opportunity to meet the representative mining men from all sections of 
the country and to say a few words on behalf of the state of Wyoming. 

It is generally and erroneously believed that the state of Wyoming 
is but little interested in mining; that within her borders there is but 
little worth mentioning. I say erroneously believed because the truth is 
that one-sixth of all the people of Wyoming are dependent upon the min¬ 
ing industry; that that young state with its 93,000 square miles of unde¬ 
veloped territory has mining interests and mines of every sort and kind; 
that within her borders it is well known that practically all the precious 
minerals abound. Why should they not? Just across the eastern border 
are the great gold fields of the Black Hills; on the north are the wondrous 
copper plants and copper mines of Montana; to the west the precious 
metals of Idaho and Utah, and just across the line in Colorado are the 
great mineral resources of this grand young state. (Applause.) North 
and south across Wyoming extend tiie great mountain ranges in which 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


21 


are found, in all the sister states, precious minerals of every sort and 
kind; east and west across Wyoming stretch the Laramies, the Black 
Hills, the Rattle Snake ranges, and why should the mere state line shut 
out the precious ores W'hich are known to abound in all these mouncain 
ranges? True, I believe Wyoming was early in the formation of this 
great mountain region. True, I believe her precious ores lie deeper and 
are more difficult to find than in Colorado or other sister states; but that 
they are there has been well proven by what smail discoveries nave already 
been made. Wyoming is one of the greatest coal producing states in tne 
arid region; not a county within her borders but wnat to-day is mining 
coal. The output is some eight million tons per annum. Ten thousand 
miners are digging for the black diamonds within Wyoming to-day. Her 
coal exports reach the land where rolls the Oregon, extend east beyond 
the Mississippi, and this morning, coming in from tne western line of 
Colorado, I saw out here in some of the B. & M. towns the coal cars 
Joaded with the Wyoming lignite coal from the northern section of the 
state. Oil abounds; and we boast of the largest aerial tramway in the 
w'orld, used for the purpose of carrying the copper ores from the famous 
Ferris-Haggarty mines in southern Carbonate county across mountain 
and valley to the great smelters at Encampment. We have recently dis¬ 
covered gold-bearing quartz of great richness in the central western part 
of the state, and only yesterday one of the greatest rushes ever known by 
mining men took place in central Wyoming when seven hundred miners 
fiocked into the Owl Creek range of mountains, which has just been 
opened for mining entry with the opening of the Indian reservation. Only 
a couple of wrecks ago we shipped from that region three carloads of metal 
ores, gold and copper, to your Colorado smelters; and while Wyoming 
to-day is simply laying aside her sw^addling clothes, and is stepping forth, 
as a little child, just beginning to attract the serious attention of thought¬ 
ful mining men, yet I prophesy for that young state one of the greatest 
futures in mineral development ever known in this arid region (applause), 
and we are glad here to-day to be represented at this American Mining 
Congress. From the very morning of the .history of mankind, from the 
earliest ages, there has always been considered .to be a certain amount 
of luck, a certain amount of goodness, in certain numbers, and as this 
is the ninth annual session of the American Mining Congress, I believe 
from out this convention will come forth a vast amount of good to all 
the mining interests of this great nation (applause); that progress will 
be made not only along the lines of that great American genius whicn has 
already demonstrated to the world its miraculous ability to extract ores 
and to extract the precious metals from ores hitherto considered impossible 
to mine successfully; not only great advancement of that American fac¬ 
ulty and genius which invents new ways and new methods, but vast im¬ 
provements in laws, vast improvements in the execution of mining laws, 
in the making of new and better ones, and from out this conventioii will 
come forth, I believe, improvement in methods and improvements in 
ways, and little Wyoming wants to be represented here and do her part 
towards making this splendid Congress the success which it de.serves 
to be. 

I thank you. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: As evidence of the interest that the East 
is taking in this question, we have with us here Mr. F. B. King of Connec¬ 
ticut, who will respond on behalf of that state. (Applause.) 

MR, F. B. KING OF CONNECTICUT: Mr. President, Ladies and 
Gentlemen, and Delegates and Members of the American Mining Congress: 
To say that I am honored in appearing as the representative of the only 
state in New England that has sent a representative is but feebly to ex¬ 
press my feelings and appreciation of the position that I am in. Added 
to that, I may be pardoned for referring to an experience of four years 
in this city in my earlier life a quarter of a century ago, which naturally 
contributes much in' the way of mingled emotion and feeling that I 
should come here to the scene of many of my earlier pleasant and un¬ 
pleasant experiences in such a capacity. But it was during those years, 


22 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


eleven in all, spent in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and California, that I 
gained that general knowledge of the greatest industry known in this 
country, which prepared me, to a considerable extent, for the work that 
I have had in hand for the past six years in my city and county, Bridg- 
port, Fairfield county, Connecticut. 

It may seem strange to some of you that Connecticut, a state which 
has nothing in the way of mining operations that are worthy of special 
comment or mention, should have a place and. be represented by a dele¬ 
gate in the American Mining Congress. I listened in vain this morning 
during the speeches of the gentlemen from the various western states 
responding for those states to the welcome so generously and kindly 
offered up by the governor of this state and the mayor of this city and the 
people of this state, to any reference to the element and the factor in the 
mining business which I have the honor to represent. The western states 
are the scenes of the active operations in mining, but the a^ctive opera¬ 
tions in mining would not amount to very much if it were not for the 
eastern capital that comes to your help and assistance, and it is as the 
representative of those whom I have met and whom I expect to meet in 
my community and in my capacity in presenting mining opportunities for 
investment that I am before you to-day, that I am a member of this tody, 
as I have been for two or three years past, and of which body I propose 
to be a member perpetually, because through it I feel and see that I can 
contribute more to the best interests which I personally represent in my 
community than through any other single agency. 

Now, the state of Connecticut probably has a greater percentage of 
her citizens directly interested in mining through their investments than 
almost any other state. A little state, smaller in area than some coun¬ 
ties in this state, perhaps, and yet beginning to realize that mining offers 
them greater security, permanency in their investments and better re¬ 
turns by far than the forms of investment found nearer home. We in the 
East have had a great deal to carry in the way of a handicap in the way 
of schemes that were on paper only, propositions without properties be¬ 
hind them. That is true of everyone in the mining business. We all 
realize that is a handicap, and I can see that through the instrumentality 
of the forces that we propose to put at work in this nation many of those 
abuses can be corrected, eliminated, and the business purified, the atmos¬ 
phere clarified, so that people will see the business in its true and proper 
light. I propose, in my community, to put before the people who are in¬ 
vestors through me the importance of identifying themselves personally 
with this organization, because through it we can more quickly and per¬ 
manently secure the results we desire in connection with this business, 
both as prospectors, as developers of property; in fact every interest con¬ 
nected or identified with mining in any way is benefited by the operations 
of the laws that we desire to have enacted and placed upon our statute 
books, and through the medium of the department for which we shall 
ask at the hands of the National Congress, the Department of Mines and 
Mining, with a Cabinet officer and with such bureaus and departments 
as shall take up the experimental work which now has to be done en¬ 
tirely by private means and through private enterprise. I can see very 
clearly that the department can be of as much benefit to the industry of 
mining as the Department of Agriculture has been to the business of 
farming in our great nation. 

I thank you. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We have with us also a gentleman from 
Texas, who has been a very earnest supporter of this Congress and has 
done some very effective work, and who will now respond on behalf of 
that state. I have the honor of presenting to you, ladies and gentlemen 
Mr. A. W. Gifford. 

(Mr. Gifford, however, was not in the room.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I know you will be pleased to hear from 
Capt. Jack Crawford of Mexico, who will respond on behalf of that terri¬ 
tory. (Applause.) 


AMERICAN 


MINING CONGRESS. 23 

CAPT. JACK CRAWFORD OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, La¬ 
dies and Gentlemen: I know a good deal about the practical end of the 
mining business, and have blistered my hands with the pick, the drill 
and shovel and have put a good deal of my money into holes in the 
ground. , I don’t know very much about the theoretical or scientific end 
of it; but I want to say to you that New Mexico is the grandest state 
in this great Union—I mean, that is to be, because we are still outside 
of the Union, but we are going to get there. We are not trying to get 
there by doubling up with anybody,' because the territory of New Mexico 
is big enough to be a state by itself, just as much as Colorado is. (Ap¬ 
plause.) Now, I want to say that I wish to the Lord I was an Ace instead 
of a Jack. (Laughter.) Do you know what I would do? I would take 
this Connecticut King down to New Mexico, and I would break him in, 
with some of his boodle, on some mines that I have down there. I have 
some of the richest mines on earth. How do I know? I have put $43,000 
Into them already. And I am not going to throw any bouquets at Colo¬ 
rado, either. She has enough. I want a few of them for New Mexico, and 
I will tell you why. I once had four millionaires on the way to New 
Mexico to see my property, and, by the Eternal, they never got past 
Denver and Colorado Springs. (Applause and laughter.) And let me tell 
you another thing. One man—and I am not afraid to mention his name 
Senator Reynolds from Brooklyn, New York, who owns Dreamland—so do 
I, but mine is in New Mexico. Billy Reynold’s Dreamland is in Coney Isl¬ 
and, but he came from Brooklyn, New York, to Denver, or to Colorado 
Springs, and got hold of a Colorado Springs expert '\vho took him up 
through the Garden of the Gods, to Leadville and Cripple Creek, away up 
on top of the mountains and wined and hypnotized him. Then he came 
down and looked at my copper property and said it was great, and he 
brought the Colorado Springs expert with him, and he sent back reports 
of assays, and they were all right, too, and the Colorado Springs expert 
said to Senator Reynalds, in my presence, in front of my tunnel, where 
there was a hundred tons of ore in sight, “I want you to give me your 
honest opinion.” “Well,” he says, “it is the biggest thing I ever saw 
undeveloped, but it is too big.” Gentlemen, my copper group is too big, 
and if some of you fellows are big enough to tackle it, come down and I 
will turn you loose on it. (Laughter.) Some years ago in New Mexico 
I had a friend by the name of James P. Blaine. As I said, I was then 
chief of scouts for the United States army, and for more than three 
years was on the trail of Old Victoria, who had killed more than 500 
men, women and children in their homes in New Mexico on the Rio 
Grande and in the mountains. I was chief of scouts during those years, 
and at one time owned fifty-seven claims, and many a 31st December 
night I sat on a claim with a winchester across by lap and a dozen cow¬ 
boys on other claims so that at 12 o’clock I could fire the shot for re¬ 
location, or jumpers would have jumped them. I can’t do it any more. 
I have got to put a hundred dollars’ worth of work on every claim I 
have or I must lose it. And I helped to frame the law that made that 
possible, because I wanted to square things, but as long as there were 
outlaws there I was perfectly willing to be like the rest of them, especially 
to hold my own property that I had put my money into. But Jim Blaine, 
he was one of my scouts, said to me one day in Chloride, New Mexico, 
“If you will do thirty feet of work on the Monte Christo I will give you a 
half interest in it.” That meant $300—$10 a foot. “I will do it,” I said, 
“if you will show me the size of a pin head of mineral.” There was min¬ 
eral on each end of it, lots of it. And so Jim and I hunted, but could find 
no mineral. I was sitting on a great boulder, with my prospecting pick, 
hammering the rock, and I said, “Jim, I don’t think there is any use in 
going to work unless there is something to work on.” Then a great slab 
of mineral fell from my hammer. Jim picked it up, and striking an atti¬ 
tude like Daniel Webster, said: “By the Gods, you have struck it!” 
Says I, “Jim, I will do the thirty feet.” He says, “You will do nothing of 
the kind.” I said, “Why?” “Because,” he said, “we have got a bonanza 
right here, and we might go down ten feet and dig her out.” And then 


24 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Jim struck another attitude, and, following in the footsteps of that other 
great poet, he said, “To sink or not to sink; that is the question,” And I 
went to my cabin that night with that thing ringing in my ears, and 
while it was not customary to paraphrase a man supposed to be in para¬ 
dise, I must apologize to Bill Shakespeare for daring to do it unto him. 
But I wrote a little parody. Here it is: 

THE PROSPECTOR’S SOLILOQUY. 

To sink or not to sink? That is the question; - 

Whether ’tis fitter in the prospector to sell 

The highly metalliferous croppings for a song, 

Or, using muscle, to dig down. 

And thus, by perseverance, strike it rich. 

To work, to sink, and by that sinking strike a lead 

Of gold or silver, or finest copper glance 

That luck is heir to. ’Tis a consummation 

Devoutly to be wished. To sink, to blast. 

To blast, perchance to Lust—Aye! there’s the rub. 

For at a shallow depth what base may come 

When we have shovelled off the uncertain top 

Must give us pause. There’s the respect 

Which makes calamity of a prospect-hole; 

For who can tell what pinch may come below 

The argentiferous stuff—component parts of lead. 

The metalliferous decomposed conglomerate. 

Eruption of nature, all broken up; perchance 

The insolence of luckier pards, and then 

The chance the miner takes by sinking shaft 

While he himself might be much better off 

By simply waiting. What is ’t’ we would not do 

But that the dread of something yet unseen, 

The undiscovered pay-streak (perhaps not there). 

That makes us rather raise the monuments we have 

Than open up the ground we know not of. 

Thus prospecting makes cowards of us all. 

And so the prospects of a big bonanza 

Are sicklied o’er by some dark, cussed doubt. 

And speculators in a surface prize 

Do thus regard their interest, turn aside. 

And lose, perchance, a million. 

> ' 

The mineral resources of New Mexico are great, but she has been 
handicapped, and she has been sandwiched. That’s right, and she is the 
meat of the sandwich, too, with Colorado on one side and Mexico on the 
other. 

I thank you. (Applause and laughter.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now have the pleasure of listen¬ 
ing to an address by E. W. Parker of the United States Geological Survey 
on “The Prevention of Mining Accidents.” 

Mr. Parker’s paper will be found in the latter part of this report. See 
index. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We will now listen to an address by 
Dr. J. A. Holmes, of the United States Geological Survey, on the subject 
of what other governments are doing for the benefit of the mining in¬ 
dustry. 

Dr. Holmes’ paper will be found in the latter part of this report. See 
index. 

MR. S. A. READ OF CALIFORNIA: I would suggest that it would 
be well for this Congress to print the remarks of the two gentlemen and 
send them to the state mineralogist of each state and ask them to reprint 
and send them out throughout the mining districts. I think this is a very 
interesting question and these remarks should be very widely spread. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


25 


PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I will state for the information of the 
members that Dr. Holmes has written a paper co\’'ering the topics in de¬ 
tail which he has just presented in his oral presentation. That will be 
printed and sent broadcast throughout the country. I think the sugges¬ 
tion, however, is a good one, and will attempt to carry it out. 

Are there any further remarks upon this question? 

(No response.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We are now to be favored with an ad¬ 
dress by Mr. T. A. Rickard, editor of the Mining and Scientific Press of 
San Francisco on the subject, “The Geological Occurrences of Gold.” I 
have the honor of introducing Mr. Rickard of California. (Applause.) 

MR. T. A. RICKARI> OF CALIFORNIA: Mr. President, Delegates 
and Members of the American Mining Congress, Ladies and Gentlemen: 
When gold was first discovered in Australia in 1851, in November of that 
year, Henry La Trobe, the first governor of the Colony of Victoria, went 
to see the new diggings, and as he rode on horseback among the miners 
whom he saw at work, and entered into conversation with them, and be¬ 
came fascinated with the glamour of the pursuits of gold, he finally asked 
one or two questions, and in talking with a Cornishman of more than 
average iptelligence—not that Cornishmen are not of more than aver¬ 
age intelligence—but this Cornishman seemed to know a good deal—he 
said to him, “Well, my man, where do you think the gold came from?” 
The old man leaned on his shovel and scratched his head and said: 
“Where it is, there it is, and where it ain’t, there be Oi” Well, that reply 
of the old Cornishman has been echoed from many a prospect hole for 
more than fifty-five years. It has been taken as the epitome of geological 
wisdom and as the statement of mining experience, and yet I venture to 
say that it conveys only a partial truth. 

Mr. Rickard’s paper will be found in the latter part of this report. 
See index. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any remarks or suggestions 
relative to the address we have just hoard? (No response.) 

I deem it appropriate to call attention at this time to the kindly in¬ 
vitation of the State School of Mine.s to this Congress to attend the dedi¬ 
cation of the Simon Guggenheim Hall at that institution at Golden, Col¬ 
orado, to-morrow afternoon, for such action as you may think proper to 
take. It seems to me they are entitled to some answer to this kindly in¬ 
vitation. What is your pleasure? 

MR. RICHARD RIEPE OF NEVADA: I would suggest that we ac¬ 
cept the invitation, and that we express our thanks and go in a body 
there to-morrow afternoon. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Do you make that as a motion? 

MR. RIEPE OF NEVADA: I do. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that 
this Congress accept this invitation from the School of Mines and go 
there in a body to-morrow afternoon. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. WIRE OF ILLINOIS: I would like to ask a question, and that 
is, will this trip over there consume the whole afternoon, and will it in¬ 
terfere materially with the carrying out of the program as arranged and 
the transaction of tlie business that we ought to do at this session this 
week? 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Of course we have a full program for 
the entire time set aside for this session, and it is a question for the 
members to determine whether we will set aside a half day to attend this 
dedication or proceed with the regukar program. Therefore, I would like 
to have a full expression on this question. 

COLONEL THOMAS EWING OP CALIFORNIA: Mr. President, and 
gentlemen of the Congress, you have found in all of our sessions through- 




26 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


out the country that in attending these outside matters it takes us away 
from the objects of the sessions almost entirely, and while I have re¬ 
ceived a personal invitation from the School of Mines to be present there, 
I feel that I should devote myself to this Congress in place of going off 
to the dedication of a hall. While I would like to be there very much, I 
certainly shall vote against adjourning this congress on one of the most 
important days of the session to go off to attend the dedication of a hall 
at Golden. I think it could have easily been changed and not set upon 
• the week of this Congress, and while it would be very nice to go there 
and visit the school, I can not afford to do it at this time, and I shall 
vote against the resolution. 

MR. EZRA T. ELLIOTT OF COLORADO: In response to Mr. Ew¬ 
ing’s statements, I wish to state for the benefit of the Congress here that 
there is so much important business coming before this Congress I do 
not think it is possible for this Congress to adjourn or take a recess 
long enough to accept the hospitality and kind invitation of the School 
of Mines at the present time. If they will continue their invitation until 
we can get through with the important legal business that is going to 
come before this Congress, well and good, but to break in on it right in 
the center, right at the beginning of the inception of its important busi¬ 
ness, as Colonel Ewing has said, will interfere entirely and absolutely 
with the business of the Congress. I for one, being a citizen of Colorado, 
would delight in helping to entertain and be present at the entertainment 
of anybody from the other states at the School of Mines. I think it is a 
good thing for every miner here to go to that school of mines; but 
under the circumstances I do not think it advisable for this Congress to 
adjourn to accept practically a junketing proposition when we are in the 
midst of business that is of vital importance to the mining interests of 
the whole United States. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle¬ 
men: I am very much in the position of my friend Colonel Ewing. I re¬ 
ceived a personal invitation to attend the dedication of the Simon Gug¬ 
genheim Hall at the State School of Mines. There is perhaps no one con¬ 
nected with the American Mining Congress who has greater sympathy 
with the mining schools than I have myself. It would be a very great 
pleasure for me to attend that dedication. I believe, however, that this 
Mining Congress will find all that it can possibly attend to if it carries 
out the program which has been laid down. Therefore, Mr. President, in 
order to show the people of Golden and the people of the state of Colo¬ 
rado that we are interested in their School of Mines, and in mining educa¬ 
tion throughout this country, I would move you an amendment to the 
motion, that the President be instructed to appoint from the delegates or 
members of this Congress three persons to attend the dedication as rep¬ 
resentatives of this Congress. I think we can very well show this cour¬ 
tesy to the School of Mines and to Ihe State of Colorado. I would like 
to submit this as an amendment. 

Amendment seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the amendment, that 
the President of this body appoint a committee of three to attend the 
dedication of the Simon Guggenheim Hall in the name of the Congress 
to-morrow afternoon. The amendment has been seconded. Are you 
ready for the question? 

MR. H. S. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I move a substi¬ 
tute that the communication be received with thanks, and that the Pres¬ 
ident appoint a committee consisting of one from each state to represent 
this Congress at the dedication exercises at Golden. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion that is of¬ 
fered as a substitute for the principal motion and the amendment, that 
the president of this organization appoint a committee,, one from’ each 
state represented here, as I understand it, to attend that dedication in 
the name of the Congress. Are there any remarks upon the substitute? 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


27 


MR, KING OP CONNECTICUT: Mr. President, I beg leave to call 
the gentleman’s attention to the fact that several states have sent but 
one delegate here, and to send one from each state that is represented at 
all would take quite a number out of this body, and while I would deeply 
appreciate the honor of representing my state in that capacity, and fully 
appreciate the importance of the occasion, yet it seems to me that the 
motion of Mr. Buckley of Missouri that a committee of three be empowered 
to represent the body would draw very slightly upon our membership and 
would represent us in quite as dignified a manner and quite as com¬ 
pletely and not interfere seriously with the work of the Congress. 

CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD OP NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, 
as far as I know, I am the only representative from New’Mexico, but if 
you will appoint me as one I will take Mr. King’s place and play a good 
hand. And furthermore, I believe that there are enough here so that sev¬ 
eral can go without detriment to the meeting, and I would like very much 
for Mr. Buckley, who himself is a school of mines man and very much be¬ 
loved by all of the School of Mines people", to be one of the gang in case I 
accompany it, and I guarantee to keep him straight, all right, while he is 
there. 

MR. WIRE OF ILLINOIS: Mr. President, I believe that Mr. Buck¬ 
ley’s motion will dispose of this matter in a proper and dignified way 
without drawing very heavily on this Congress. We have come here 
from a good distance, some of us, and are giving our time and expenses 
to this cause, and I believe everyone came here primarily to attend to 
the business of this Congress, and I don’t care to see these states send 
their whole delegation. 

I think that three members could be selected who could go and 
would go, and would maintain the dignity of this Congress in just as 
proper and complete a manner as if a dozen went; and further, I think it 
would be just as much of a compliment, and it would thank the School of 
Mines in just as complete a manner and be just as well received and ac¬ 
cepted as to have a large percentage or large proportion of our fighting 
force taken from us to-morrow afternoon. 

I believe that the amendment of Brother Buckley should be passed. 

MR. OVERFIELD OF UTAH: Those of us in the West thoroughly 
realize the beneficence of Mr. Guggenheim in giving to the School of 
Mines a building much needed. There are many of the western states 
here represented by far more than one delegate, and therefore I would 
move as an amendment that the committee of three be increased to a com¬ 
mittee of seven, which will allow the more largely represented states here 
to have a representative at Golden, and thn it will be elective with the 
chair to send such other representatives as he feels are necessary. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Your motion is out of order at this time, 
as the question is on the substitute providing for one from each state. 
Later on that motion would be very appropriate. 

Are there any other remarks. 

MR. ELLIOTT OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I wish to offer a 
substitute for all the motions and amendments’ before the house. 

There are several states here represented by individuals who do not 
wish to leave this convention until the important business is transacted; 
consequently I offer this general amendment as a substitute for all the^ 
motions and amendments, that the chair appoint five members of this’ 
Congress to represent it at the meeting at the School of Mines, and that 
he select them from the states which have more than one representa¬ 
tive here, so as not to bar other states out. 

(Motion not seconded.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question arises now on. the substi¬ 
tute, that the chair appoint one from each state as a representative from 
this Congress to attend the dedicatory services to-morrow at Golden. All 








OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


2S 


in favor of that motion will so signify by saying aye; contrary, no. The 
noes seem to have it; the noes have it. It now recurs to the amend¬ 
ment. 

MR. OVERFIELD OF UTAH: I wish to offer as an amendment to 
the original motion, that a committee of seven be appointed to attend 
the meeting to-morrow. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question is now upon the amend¬ 
ment to the motion offered by Dr. Buckley, changing the membership 
from three to seven. Are you ready for that amendment? 

The amendment was thereupon put by the President and declared 
carried. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The motion stands now that the Presi¬ 
dent appoint a committee of seven to attend the dedicatory services to- 
morrov afternoon. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared carried. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I have the pleasure of stating that one 
of the directors of this Congress, Mr. John Dern of Utah, and one of the 
largest mining men of the West, will now address you on the subject of 
“The Mining and Mineral Resources of Utah.” (Applause.) 

MR, JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr, President and Delegates to the 
American Mining Congress: At the session of the Mining Congress at 
its birth in this city, on this very platform, I had the pleasure of re.ading 
a paper on the “Cyanide Process,” which at that time was just being 
adopted and in its infancy. I was able in simply handling one subject to go 
into the matter in every detail. The subject which has been assigned to me 
for this occasion is of such widespread importance that I can only treat 
it in a general way, omitting details and particulars, my subject being 
“The Mining and Mineral Resources of Utah.” 

Mr, Dern’s paper will be found in latter part of this report. See 
index. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We are compelled to stand almost ap¬ 
palled at the possibilities of the state of Utah from what we have just 
heard. 

The Secretary, in accordance with your instructions, will now read 
the membership of the committee to attend the dedicatory exercises at 
Golden. 

THE SECRETARY: Thomas F, Walsh of Colorado, T. A. Rickard 
of California, Richard Reipe of Nevada, Capt. Jack Crawford of New Mex¬ 
ico, Clay B. Gregory of Missouri, Kirby. Thomas of Wisconsin, Wni, M. 
Porter of Illinois. 

THE SECRETARY: Under the by-laws it becomes the duty of each 
state to recommend its member of the committee on resolutions. Seme 
of the states represented here have not yet handed in their names to the 
Secretary. Those already recommnded are as follows: 

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTIONS. 


Anderson, Edwin . Iowa 

Brooks, Gov. B. B.*..Wyoming 

Burns, Walter G.Indiana 

Case, R. H.New Mexico 

Clark, William F.Vermont 

Coleman, Edward J. F.Rhode Island 

Dorsey, Col. George W. E.Nebraska 

Ewing, Col. Thomas.Arizona 

Gifford, A. W. .Texas 

Gregg, Col, H. H.Missouri 

Harmon, Charles O .Michigan 

Heigho, Edward M. ’’ Idaho 

Heizer, Judge D. N.‘ .'Colorado 

Heriick, R, L.Pennsylvania 
















AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


2!) 


Holmes, J. A. 

Ingalls, W. R. 

Jackson, Arthur C. 

Joseph, Harry S. 

King, Fred B. 

Manning, James . 

McCarthy, P. B. 

Mclntire, A. W. 

McKeon, Matt. 

Pardee, Gov. George C 

Parker, B. W. 

Patrick, F. L. 

Riepe, Richard A. 

Thomas, Kirby . 

Willis, R. L. 

Wire, Frank E. 

Neer, O. L. 


.North Carolina 

.New York 

.Maine 

.Utah 

.Connecticut 

.Montana 

.South Dakota 

.Washington 

.Kentucky 

.. .California 

District of Columbia 

.Ohio 

.Nevada 

.Wisconsin 

.Hawaii 

.Illinois 

.Mexico 


PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Those states which have no representa¬ 
tion on this committee will kindly send in the name t» the Secretary and 
it will be announced at the evening session. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I have a resolution to in¬ 
troduce at this time in conjunction with the announcement of the com¬ 
mittee on resolutions: 

Resolved, That the committee on resolutions be and are herebv con¬ 
stituted a committee of the whole on legislation, and are hereby author¬ 
ized and empowered to use their best endeavors to bring to the attention 
of the legislatures of their respective states and territories all memorials 
and resolutions affecting mining legislation adopted by the American 
Mining Congress at its ninth annual session, held in Denver, Colorado, 
October 16-19, 1906. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Under the rule it will be referred to the 
committee on resolutions. 

SENATOR DE LAVERGNE OF COLORADO: As I partially, repre¬ 
sent Teller county, I wish to state to this convention that the citizens of 
Victor and Cripple Creek and the county commissioners and officials 
there extend their hearty invitation to this Congress to visit the district. 
The railroads have, I think, kindly arianged for free transportation from 
Denver and return, and the citizens of Teller county, I believe, have ar¬ 
ranged for the entertainment at the district. The mines will be open and 
we would be pleased to entertain in and about the mines and in the 
district all of the members of this Congress. 


DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: Mr. President, before mak¬ 
ing the motion to adjourn, I think it would be well for us all to remem¬ 
ber that the session to be held this evening at which the President’s ad¬ 
dress is to be the first business, ought to be, and is, in my judgment, the 
most important feature of the program of this session of the American 
Mining Congress. It is not only just to the Congress, but just to the 
President that every member of the Congress should be present at that 
meeting and should be present promptly, where we are to have outlined 
to us, after a great deal of thought und study during the past several 
years, what the President believes to be the line of policy this Congress 
shall pursue. I would move you, sir, that we adjourn to meet at 8 o’clock 
at the Brown Palace hotel. 

Motion seconded, put by the President and declared carried. 

An adjournment was thereupon taken until 8 o’clock p. m. 



















30 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


EVENING SESSION, OCTOBER 16, 1906. 

8 o’clock, p. m. 

The meeting was called to order promptly at 8 o’clock by Presi¬ 
dent Richards. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: We have a report from the credentials 
committee, which the secretary will read. 

The secretary thereupon read the following report: 

To the American Mining Congress: Yoin credentials Committee 
begs leave to report that the following states and territories are repre¬ 
sented in this convention by duly accredited delegates: Arizona, Califor¬ 
nia, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mis¬ 
souri, Maine, Montana, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, 
Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Ver¬ 
mont, Wisconsin, Wyoming, District of Columbia, Honolulu, Mexico. Wy¬ 
oming. Very respectfully, • 

W. F. R. MILLS, 

H. J. BARON, 

C. J. HUTCHINSON, 


LIST OF DELEGATES. 

ARIZONA. 

Miles, J. A. 

Miles, Mrs. Ida H.. 

Bell, C. B. 

Ewing, Col. Thomas . 


CALIFORNIA. 

Green, R. M. 

Newcomb, B. M. 

Arnold, Ralph . 

Naramore, Chester .. 

Searls, Fred . 

Pardee, Hon. George C. 

Hutchinson, C. T.. 

Rickard, T. A. 

Madeira, George . 

Fox, C. W. 

Ayres, C. W. 

Withey, H. J. 

Voss, J. D.,. 

Leach, Frank A .. 


COLORADO. 

Kinney, ,1. O. 

Weiss, Dr. Louis. 

Elliott, Ezra T. 

Bradley, C. A. 

Anderson, Peter. 

Gier, C. R. 

Heizer, D. N.. 

Alderson, Dr. Victor C. 

Hollister, W. C.!. 

Martelon, Benjamin .1. 

Desch, C. S. 

Sands, Jacob. 

Cox. W. J. 

Hart, B. A. 

Lyon, S. C.. . . 

Pollard. Ira M... 

Hewetv, G. C.^.. . 

Argali, G. O. 


. .Globe 
.. Globe 
Douglas 
.Vivian 


.Oroville 

San Francisco 
.. Santa Maria 
. . Santa Maria 
..Nevada City 
. .. Sacramento 
San Francisco 
San Francisco 
... Healdsburg 
San Francisco 
.. .Jamestown 

.Cool 

.Searles 

San Francisco 


. .Grand Junction 

.Del Norte 

.Del Norte 

.Longmont 

.Fort Collins 

.Manitou 

Colorado Springs. 

.Golden 

• ..Apex 

....Silver Plume 
.... Silver Plume 

.Red Cliff 

.Eagle 

.Eagle 

.Leadville 

.Apex 

Colorado Springs 
. ..Leadville 







































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


31 


Pond, Squire...Colorado City 

Burns, Hon. Con.Pueblo 

Goodier, John P.Breckenridge 

Alsdorf, P. R.Central City 

Brown, J. I..Cripple Greek 

Robinson, S. C..Crested Butte 

Skeels, Alfred.Central City 

Crosley, F. W.Cripple Creek 

Moore, E. J. Denver 

Ward, C. E.Denver 

Ward, L. M.Denver • 

Tonge, Thomas.Derrvei 

Argali, Philip.Denver 

Wilkinson, T. L.Denver 

Hymer, J. P.Denver 

McDonald, Gov. Jesse F.Denver 

Speer, Robert VV.Denver 

Humphrey, R. K.Denver 

Elspass, J, H..'.Denver 

Plehn, G.Denver 

Bostwick, F. H.Denver 

Guyei*, Dr\ C. N.Denver 

McConney, R. B. .Denver 

Plummer, John T.Denver 

Peck, I. F.Denver 

Cary, R. J.Denver 

Vandemoer, John J..'.Denver 

Stewart, Albert H. Denver 

Smith, Branch H. Denver 

Donaldson, A. M.T....Denver 

Bancroft, George J. Denver 

Alexander, G. E.Denver 

Holland, J. H.,.Denver 

Campion, John F.Denver 

Chauvenet, Dr. Regis.Denver 

Reidel, H. A.Denver 

Crandell, James H.Denver 

Glass, C. A.Denver 

Hanway, J. E.Denver 

Dinsmore, W. P. J.Denver 

Schwartz, T. E. Denver 

Hall, C. D.Denver 

Bonnevie, N. C...Denver 

Clark, F.Denver 

Kutsche, W. O.Denver 

Lowden, H. B.Denver 

Kelly, E. W.Denver 

Traphagen, F. W.Denver 

Swan, George E.Denver 

Roehring, Charles F.Denver 

Colburn, E. A. .*.‘.Denver 

McElrary, R. C. Denver 

Callbreath, James F., Jr.Denver 

Baron, H. J.Denver 

Brunton, D. W.Denver 

Lawson, C. A. Denver 

Campbell, Frank J. Denver 

Stewart, Mrs. W. H... .Denver 

House, Samuel R.Denver 

Plumb, A. M.Denver 

Graves, H. S.Denver 

Koch, Walter A.Denver 

Rogers, C. L.:.Denver 

































































OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


:I2 


Mills, W. F. R. 

Wood, C. E. 

Morrison, R. S. 

Johnston, C. J.. 

Hansen, George. 

Farley, J. F. 

Newton, H. C. 

Herbert, F. W. 

Case, A. H. 

Parmelee, H. C. 

Burlingame, D. H.. 

Tatman, J. C... 

Owings, T. L. 

McComas, Miss Evaline.. 

Sterneherger, L. 

Morris, Howard G. 

Russell, W. E.•. 

McComb, Mrs. 

White, E. Lyman.... . 

Daniels, William P.. 

Vandenberg, F. P. 

Carlton, A. E. 

Harkins, John . 

Meyers, J. H... 

Morris, Charles H. ...^. 

Morehead, E. S... 

Brown, W^. H... 

Davis, W. W...,. 

Martin, R. L.^. 

Bartholomew, George W.".... 

Eastman, H. C. . .... 

Holman, A.‘T. 

Franklin. Nelson .. 

Woods, R. M.■. 

Mundy, J. A... 

Nesmith, S. G.. 

AVilliams, Hugh . 

Smith, S. B. 

Preston, W. J. 

Cooper, WJlliam .. 

Johnson, A. S. 

Frankenburg, F. H. 

CONNECTICUT. 

King, Frederick B.. 

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Lindgren, Dr. Waldemar.. ... 

Parker, E. W. 

Upham, Mrs. Nellie. 

Beekman, Ed. A. 


Richards, J. H. 

Masters, J. E. 

Heigho, E. M. 

Trenanr, A. S. 

Atwood, Mrs. E. C 
Weaver, J. L. 

Porter, William M . , 

Morava, W’’. 

Voss, J. J. 

Kloer, O. J. 


IDAHO. 


ILLINOIS. 


.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

:.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

..♦.. . .Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

..Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Clear Creek 

.Aspen 

.Breckenridge 

.Georgetown 

.Alma 

.Alma 

. ....Leadville 

.Central City 

.Gunnison 

.Central City 

.Victor 

.Victor 

. Colorado Springs 
.Colorado Springs 
... .Gilpin County 
. . . .Gilpin County 

.Park County 

.Silver Cliff 

.Georgetown 

.Crestone 

.Pueblo 

.Bridgeport 


Washington 

Washington 

Washington 

Washington 


.Boise 

Silver City 
.. . . Weiser 
. .. . Council 

.Boise 

.Boise 

. . .Chicago 
... Chicago 
.. .Chicago 
.. .Chicago 



























































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 33 

• 

Davidson, W. H. A. Chicago 

Goodsell, B. W.Chicago 

Holman, J. W.Chicago 

Sisley, L. A. .Chicago 

Skinner, M. B.Chicago 

Wire, Frank E.Libertyville 

INDIANA. 

Burns, Walter G.Fort Wayne 

IOWA. 

Schampp, J. M.Fort Dodge 

Anderson, Edwin .Ruthven 

Anderson, J. H. Ruthven 

KENTUCKY. 

McKeon, Matt .Frankfort 

MAINE. 

Jackson, A. C. 

MICHIGAN. 

Harmon, Charles O.Cassopolis 

MISSOURI. 

Gregg, Col. H. H.Joplin 

Gregory, H. Clay. Joplin 

Guengerich, Chris.Joplin 

Fife, W. P.St. Louis 

Buckley, Dr. E. R.'.Rolla 

MONTANA. 

Manning, James .Helena 

Scott, John A. Missoula 

Clark, Miss Clara.Butte 

Cooney, F. H.Butte 

NEBRASKA. 

Anderson, A. A.Columbus 

Dorsey, Col. G. W, E. Fremont 

Oberfelder, Joseph .Sidney 

NEVADA. 

Wheeler, H. K.Ely 

Tibbets, Dr. G. W.Goldfield 

Ingalls, J. Aaron.Reno 

Riepe, R. A. Ely 

Van Derlitch, Edward D.Carson City 

NEW MEXICO. 

Prince, L. Bradford.Santa Fe 

Case, Harland R.Organ 

Roper, H. L.Lake Valley 

Crawford, Capt. Jack.San Marcial 

NEW YORK. 

Scholl, George P.New York 

Matthew, H. T.New York 

Ingalls, W. R.New York 

OHIO. 

White, F. Wallace.Cleveland 

Peregoy, Dr. F. C.Brunswick 

Peregoy, Mrs. F. C.Brunswick 

Blackmore, D. J.Barnesville 

Blackmore, Mary M.Barnesville 

Hooker, Joseph J.Cincinnati 













































34 


OFFICIAL proceedings 


OREGON. 

Berkeley, Norborne.Pendleton 

Sessions, E. A. Portland 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Herrick, R. L.Scranton 

Schale, Dr.Scranton 

Jamison, W. W. Greensburg 

RHODE ISLAND. 

Coleman, Edward J. F.Providence 

SOUTH DAKOTA. 

McCarthy, P. B.Rapid City 

McCoy, A. A.Deadwood 

Baldwin, F. R Deadwood 

Hirsch, Mark.Deadwood 

TEXAS. 

Gifford, A. W.El Paso 

Eddy, John A.El Paso 

Davis, T. F.El Paso 

Davis, Mrs. T. F.El Paso 

UTAH. 

Overfield, C. P..Salt Lake City 

Joseph, H. S.Salt Lake City 

Riter, George W.Salt Lake City 

Dern, John .Salt Lake City 

Morningstar, Freeman .Salt Lake City 

Cutler, Hon. John C. ...Salt Lake City 

Walker, Charles A...Salt Lake City 

VERMONT. 

Clarke, W. F. Glover 

WASHINGTON. 

Holden, J. H.Chelon 

Roboase, Henry.7.Chelon 

Mclntire, A. W.Everett 

WISCONSIN. 

Thomas, Kirby. 

Adams, H. R.. 

Tuttle, Sidney .Janesville 

WYOMING. 

Bennett, Alvin.Buffalo 

Darr, D. L.*.Basin 

Hale, D. N. Birdseye 

Kuntzman, George.Encampment 

Flamme, C. L.Saratoga 

Hand, G. H.Encamnment 

Brooks, Gov. B. B.Cheyenne 

Beeler, H. C.Encampment 

Trumbull, Prof. L. W.Laramie 

HONOLULU. 

Willis, R. L.Hawaii 


Neer, O. L 


MEXICO. 


Campas, Sonora 








































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


( 


35 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS MEMBERS. 


Steele, J. T 


ALASKA. 


Akers, C. H. 

Bell, C. B. 

Collins, T. Shields... 

Collins, Patsy F. 

Coplen, J. D. 

Ewing, W. E. 

Ewing, Col. Thomas.. 

Forbes, A. M. 

Francis, W. E. 

McLean, M. H. 

Mallory, James.. 

Morris, William H. H 

Randolph, Epes. 

Speer, Alex. 

Smith, Frank Clemes 

Smith, W. H. 

Trojanovitch, A. 

Stebbins, A. H. 


ARIZONA. 


ARKANSAS. 


CALIFORNIA. 

Bailey, G. E. 

Bedell, S. A. 

Blumenhurg, Henry, Jr. 

Borden, Gail . 

Bowen, H. M. 

Briggs, George S. 

Calahan, Henry C. 

Carroll, James . 

Carroll, John. 

Clark, J. Ross. 

Corkill, Fred. 

Denair, John. 

Dittmar, M. E. 

Fellows, Walter C.. 

Ferguson, N. E. 

Gilbert, M. P. 

Goodall, Arthur . 

Hart, Richard G. 

Howell, F. D., Jr. 

Kerr, J. E. 

Klinefelter, P. K. 

Lane, Charles D. 

Lewis, S. J. 

McAllister, G. W. 

Mudd, Seeley W. 

Murphy, T. J. 

Murphy, Daniel. 

Nay, George . 

Newcomb, B. M. 

Osborne, H. Z. 

Quinn, John . 

Ralston, W. C. 

Root, L. V. 

Russell, H. M. 

Schader, Carl F. 

Scott, J. B. 


.Valdez 

.Phoenix 

.Douglas 

.Globe 

.Fort Mohave 

.Globe 

.Vivian 

.Vivian 

.Tucson 

.Tucson 

.Morenci 

....Douglas 

.Globe 

.Tucson 

Congress Junction 

.Wendendale 

.Bisbee 

.Globe 


Little Rock 


,.. Los Angeles 

.Needles 

.Daggett 

. . Los Angeles 

.Oakland 

.Needles 

San Francisco 

.Needles 

.... Victorville 
. .Los Angeles 
San Francisco 

.Needles 

.Redding 

.Needles 

.Needles 

. . Los Angeles 

..Drytown 

.Berkeley 

.Monrovia 

San Francisco 

.Needles 

San Francisco 

.Needles 

San Francisco 
. .Los Angeles 

.Needles 

. .Los Angeles 

.Needles 

San Francisco 
. . Los Angeles 

.Needles 

San Francisco 

.Needles 

. .Los Angeles 
..Los Angeles 
. .. .Fort Jones 


























































36 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Selby & Co. 

Shannon, C. M. 

Sherman, M. H. 

'Singleton, John .... 
Taylor, Gibson .... 
Underhill, H. B., Jr 
Union Iron Works.. 

Vaughn, B. L. 

Voorhees, E, C. 

West, Hon. John H 
Wright, John M.... 


San Francisco 
..Los Angeles 
..Los Angeles 
. .Los Angeles 
. .Los Angeles 
San Francisco 
San Francisco 

.Needles 

.. Sutter Creek 

.Needles 

San Francisco 


COLORADO. 

Alderson, Victor C.'. 

Alexander, F. J. 

Anderson, Charles H. 

Baldwin, M. M. 

Becker, Chas. M. 

Bell, Edward. 

Benzie, W. R. 

Bridgman, W. E. 

Bristol, Geo. A. 

Brunton, D. W. 

Butler, Edgar T.. 

Caldwell, Jas. F.. 

Callbreath, J. F. 

Campbell, C. P... 

Campbell, F. J. 

Capp, William . 

Comstock, Chas. W. 

Cargo, L. M. 

Carpenter, F. R. 

Cary, R. J. 

Cazin, Franz . 

Chittenden, W. H. 

Colburn, E. A. 

Comstock, A. R. 

Cooper, William. 

Costello, Frank F. 

Crandell, Jas. H.,. 

Crawford, G. H. 

Dahl, Henry P. 

Daniels, Wm. P. 

Davis, Geo. 

Davis, Robt. W., Jr. 

De La Vergne, E. M. 

Donaldson, A. M. 

Downey, Chas. J.!.. ... 

Dutton, Sam F. 

Eaton, Jos. H. 

Emberson, A. L. 

Eng. & Mng. Journal. 

Erisman, J. F. 

Evans, Evan E. 

Evans, Mark G. 

Fife, W. P. 

Finch, Marcus . 

Finnerty, Michael . 

Foley, W. R. 

Foster, Ernest Le Neve ... 

Gabrowsky, Theo. 

Geisel, Jno. 

Goodier, G. P. 


.Golden 

.Denver 

.Denver , 

,... Cripple Creek 

.Victor 

... .Cripple Creek 

. Denver 

. Denver 

.Denver 

. Denver 

.. Denver 

.Denver 

. Denver 

Colorado Springs 

. Denver 

. Denver 

.....Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Georgetown 

Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.. .Cripple Creek 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Silverton 

.Colorado Springs 

.. Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.... Silver Plume 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

Denver 

.Howardsville 

.Ouray 

.Denver 































































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


37 


Gower, John H. 

Gregg Mng. Inv. Co. 

Gunnel, A. T. 

Hale, Irving. 

Hanson, Rasmus . 

Harrison, A. W. 

Heizer, D. N. 

Hiller, Albert L. 

Holman, Austin T. 

House, S. R. . 

Husted, Jas. D. 

Hymer, J. P. 

James, Harry C. 

Jameson, Wm. H. 

Johnson, J. B. 

Johnston, C. J. 

Jones, Lloyd Kenyon. 

Keables, A. E. 

Kinney, W. Z. 

Knowles, W, H. 

Kyle, T. D. 

Lake, C. F. 

Lamb, Wm. A.. 

Leebrick, W. S. 

Lennox, William. 

Leschen & Sons Rope Co., A 

Lomeister, Frank . 

McClelland, Geo. E. 

McDonald, Sam C. 

McKinnie, J. R. 

McMurray, John H. 

McNeil, John ... . . . 

McQuarrie, W. F. 

Martin, R. L. 

Marshall-Ellis Inv. Co. 

Miller, Cyrus . 

Miller, D. G. 

Miller, W. A. 

Mills, W. F. R. 

Mitchell, Alex J. 

Moffat, D. H. 

Morris, Chas. H. 

Morris, Howard G. 

Morrison, W. O. 

Mundy, J. A. 

Newell, J. W. 

Newmeyer, C. E. 

Nicholson, Samuel D. 

O’Hara, J. J. 

Paddock, Carl H. 

Palmer, Edward Vose . 

Patrick, Jas. M. 

Pearl, E. H.... 

Peck, I. F. 

Phelps, Aug. H. 

Preston, W. J. 

Phipps, S. A. 

Pollard, Ira . 

Quigley, E. D. 

Rapp, Abram . 

Reinert, E. G. 

Reinert, Lewis A. 

Reinert, N. A. 


.Denver 

.Denver 

Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Silverton 

.Silverton 

.Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Victor 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.. .Denver 

.Silverton 

.Denver 

.Leadville 

.Cardinal 

...Idaho Springs 
.... Idaho Springs 
Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Leadville 

...Idaho Springs 
...Cripple Creek 
Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Central City 

.Denver 

.Amethyst 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Georgetown 

.Denver 

.Denver 

Colorado Springs 

.Leadville 

.Denver 

.Leadville 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Silver Cliff 

... .Cripple Creek 

.Apex 

.Denver 

. .. . Cripple Creek 

.Denver 

.'. .Denver 

.Denver 

































































38 


OFFICIAI. PROCEEDINGS 


Reitler, Chas, W. 

Renshaw, W. E. 

Reynolds, Chas. A, ... 

Riedel, H. A. 

Roberts, Jno. G. 

Roeder, A. B. 

Roller, Arthur H. 

Ross, J. B. 

Rummell, A. G. 

Sachs, Claude. 

Sanders, Frank T. 

Schmucker, A. P. 

Seeman, Henry I. ... 

Shaffer, Fred G. 

Shinn, J. A. 

Shull, W. H. 

Sigafoos, R. B. 

Sigel, F. L. 

Siren G. M. & M. Co.... 

Smith, Jno. H. 

Skeels, Alfred . 

Snavely, R. M. 

Sperry, Edwin A. 

Stevenson, A. M.. 

Storm, Lynn W. 

Summer, C. M.. 

Swart, W. G. 

Straub, F. S. 

Tarbell, W. S. 

Temple, W. O. 

Thomas, W. J. 

Traylor, Jno. A. 

Trenton Iron Co. 

Tumbach, J. H. 

Walden, Chas. 

Walker, Henry. 

Walsh, Thos. F. . 

Ward, W. S. 

Warwick, A. W. 

Westinghouse Mach. Co 

White, J. J. 

White, Robt. H. 

White, E. L. 

Wilcox, E. J. 

Williams, E. W. 

Williamson, J. D.. 

Wolfe, Chas. K. 

Woods, C. M. 

Wood, Guilford S. 

Woodward, Felix J. . . . 
Woods, F. M. 


King, Fred B. 


CONNECTICUT. 


DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. 

Beekman, Edd A. . .’.,. 

Brooks, Alfred H.’. 

Hayes, C. Willard. 

Parker, E. W. 

Plummer, Frank . 


.Denver 

...Idaho Springs 

.Sneffels 

.Denver 

... .Idaho Springs 

.Denver 

... .Idaho Springs 

.Silverton 

.Denver 

Colorado Springs 
.Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

..Leadville 

.Denver 

.Boulder 

.Denver 

.Greeley 

.Denver 

.Central City 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

....Denver 

Colorado Springs 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Ouray 

.Victor ’ 

.Denver 

.Denver 

. .Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Georgetown 

.. .Idaho Springs 

..Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

...Idaho Springs 

.Georgetown 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Denver 

.Victor 


Bridgeport 


Washington 

Washington 

Washington 

Washington 

Washington 




























































AMERICAN mining CONGRESS. 


39 


IDAHO. 


Borthwick, A, E. Boise 

Donaldson, W. N.Boise 

Enderlee, Edward .Forest 

Heigho, E. M.Weiser 

Jackson, O. E.Boise 

Page, Alfred.Wardner 

Richards, J. H.Boise 

Siegwein, Jno. Weiser 

Smith, W. H.Burke 


ILLINOIS. 

Ede, J. A.. .. .La Salle 

Goodsell, B. W.Chicago 

Herr, H. L.Galena 

Nicholson, H. H.Chicago 

Spry, Jno. C.Chicago 

Travers, Richard P. Chicago 

Wire, Frank E.Libertyville 


Devereaux, T. E. 

IOWA. 

.Ft. Dodge 

Wright, Willis .! 

INDIANA. 

.Indianapolis 

McCarthy, E. T. 

Pompeney, Dr. Jos. 

KANSAS. 

.Baxter Springs 

Van Dorn, Dr. R. C. 

Whitman, A. H. 

MEXICO. 

• 



MASSACHUSETTS. 


Atwood, Mrs. E. C. Boston 

Carlow, B. W.Boston 

Wells, Henry F. Boston 


MICHIGAN. 

Creelman, G. R. 

Davies, M. L. 

MISSOURI. 

Buckley, Dr. E. R. 

Dana, L. N. 

Downing, Chas. S.. 

Holmes, Dr. J. A. 

Walton, William . 

MONTANA. 

.Butte 

.Butte 

.Butte 

.Virginia City 

.Butte 

.Butte 

.Butte 

..Helena 

. Butte 

NEVADA. 

Cannon, P. H..Cherry Creek 

Clegg, Dr. J. W.Fairview 

Dignowity, C. L. Reno 


Clark, Miss Clara 

Clark, H. S. 

Cooney, F. H. 

Damours, C. A. 

Goodale, C. W. ... 
Lynch, Jas. H. . .. 
McDowell, W. W. . 

Tatem, B. H. 

Whitford, Dr. O. B 


.Rolla 

.Joplin 

Kansas City 
... St. Louis 
.Higbee 


. .Detroit 
Bay City 
















































40 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Dignowity, Fred A. 

Fukiida, R. 

Griffith, Jno. B. ... 

Hall, H. O. 

Ingalls, J. Aaron . .. 

Kinkead, J, H. 

McDonald, D. C. ... 
McFadden, C. J. .. 

Moore, I. C. 

Riepe, R. A. 

Simpson, J. B. ... 

Steele, J. A. 

Wheeler, H. K. .. 


.... Reiid 

.Austin 

.Ely 

.Ely 

.Reno 

Virginia City 

.Ely 

.Ely 

.Ely 

.Ely 

.Ely 

. . . Lane City 
.Ely 


NEBRASKA. 


Bidwell, Geo. F. Omaha 

Dorsey, Geo. W. E.Fremont 

Patterson, R. C.Omaha 

Richards, Bartlett .Ellsworth 


NEW .JERSEY. 

Bond, Josiah .Somerville 

NEW MEXICO. 

Bentley, L. B.Organ 

Brown, C. T.Socorro 

Case, R. H.Organ 

Crawford, Capt. Jack ....San Marcial 

Prince, L. Bradford .Santa Fe 


Crawford, Geo. . 
Earle, Henry . 
McWeeney, P. J 
Riordan, D. M.. . 
Ward, J. G. 


NEW YORK. 

..New York 

.New York 

.Albany 

..New York 

.Albany 


OHIO. 

Bartlett, C. O. 

Butler, J. G., Jr. 

Kendall, W. L. 

Patrick, F, L. 

White, A. L. 

White, F. Wallace.... 


. .Cleveland 
Youngstown 
. .Cleveland 
. .Columbus 

.Lima 

. . Cleveland 


OREGON. 

Bates, P. S. 

Blochberger, F. R. 

Brady, P. A. 

Cable, Dr. E. E.. 

Cousins, A. B.^. 

Crouch, O. M.. 

Davis, Jno. E. 

Dodge, W. H. 

Fisk, J. H. 

Fletcher, Jno. D. 

Goode, H. W. 

Haff, Edward L. 

Hampton, W. H. 

Hapson, Otto . 

Hard, F. J. 

Ingham, E. H. 

Johnson, J. H. 

Jones, J. I. 


.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Medford 

.Portland 

.Bohemia 

..Grant’s Pass 

.Salem 

.Bohemia 

.Eugene 

.Bohemia 

Cottage Grove 
























































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


41 


Kinney, R. C. 

Kinney, M. J. 

LeRoy, A. D. 

LeRoy, J. L. 

Lundberg, Alex . ... 

McLeod, D. L. 

Mitchell, McKinley . 
Muir, Capt. Thos. K 

Oglesby, W. W. 

Pape, J. B. 

Sessions, E. A. 

Shane, W. H. 

Staples, E. T. 

Steffner, S. W. 

Walters, Wm. J. .., 
Watson, J. Frank. .. 

Whitman, J. A. 

Wickham, J. F. ... 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

Jamieson, W. W. 

Lane,* Martin. 

Morris, F. D. 

Smtih, Walter F. 


.Portland 

.Portland 

.Bohemia 

.Portland 

.Bohemia 

.Portland 

.Gervais 

.Portland 

Cottage Grove 
Cottage Grove 

.Portland 

.Bohemia 

.Ashland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Portland 

.Medford 

.Portland 


.Greensburg 
Philadelphia 
.. .Montrose 
Philadelphia 


♦ SOUTH DAKOTA. 

Blatt, Jno. A.Lead 

Carrigan, D.Custer 

George, Jas. A. Deadwood 

Grantz, Ott P. Th.Bearwood 

Gray, Jno.Deadwood 

McCarthy, P. B. Rauid City 

Martin. Eben W. Deadwood 

May, Earnest . Lead 

Nix, Geo. M.Deadwood 

Schnitzel, Henry .Lead 

Simmons, A. J.Deadwood 

Steele, T. J.Deadwood 

Webb, I. A.Deadwood 

TEXAS. 

Coles, A. P. El Paso 

Gifford, A. W.El Paso 

Kirk, M. P. El Paso 

Krakauer, A. . El Paso 

Malcolmson, J. W.El Paso 

Parker, M. B.El Paso 

Phillips, W. B.Austin 

Read, H, C.Big Springs 

VERMONT. 

Clark, W. F. Glover 


UTAH. 

Airis, E. H.. 

Auerbach, S. H. 

Bransford, W. H. 

Child, W. H.. 

Chinmari, J. A. 

Caffey, B. F. 

Colbath, L. U. 

Cook, F. B. 

Crowther, H. M. 

Cutler, J. C. 


Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 
Salt Lake City 

























































42 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Bern, John .Salt Bake City 

Dickson, W. H.Salt Lake City 

Ellingwood, C. O.Salt Lake City 

Fairbanks, Morse & Co.Salt Lake City 

Ferry, W. M.Salt Lake City 

Gardner, F. L.Salt Lake City 

Halloran, W. J.Salt Lake City 

Holmes, Col. Edwin F.Salt Lake City 

Holmes, Mrs. Susanna B.Salt Lake City 

Holman, G. P..Salt Lake City 

Howells, Jos. Wellsville 

Inglehart, Wm.Salt Lake City 

Tackling, D. C.Salt Lake City 

lacobson, Tony .Salt Lake City 

Joseph, H. S.Salt Lake City 

Keith, David .Salt Lake City 

Keyting, Wm.Salt Lake City 

Leyson, J. H. Co.Provo 

Loose, C. E.Salt Lake City 

McChrystal, J. H.Salt Lake City 

McCornick C. K.Salt Lake City 

MacVichie. Duncan .Salt Lake* City 

Mine & Smelter Supply Co.Salt Lake City 

Moritz, Jacob .Salt Lake City 

O'Brien, W. M .Salt Lake City 

Patterson, J. H.Salt Lake City^ 

Pollock, J. A..Salt Lake City 

Powers, O. W.Salt Lake City 

Rice, Wm. V.Salt Lake City 

Rooklidge, C. D...Salt Lake City 

Shell, C. H.Salt Lake City 

Schwan, Gustave .Murray 

Strevell, C. H.Salt Lake City 

Thomas, Gomer...Salt Lake City 

Tulloch, Seymour W..Salt Lake City 

Walker, M. H.Salt Lake City 

Wall, E. A.Salt Lake City 

Weaver, Geo. B.Salt Lake City 

Wood, J. D.Salt Lake City 


WASHINGTON. 


Armstrong, L. K.Spokane 

Barron, L. G.Walla Walla 

Beaver, Geo. Spokane 

Cornforth, Jos, T.Seattle 

Givens & Co.^ J. G.Seattle 

Gray, W. A.Winlock 

Merchant, Jos.Walla Walla 

Merchant, Wm. F.Walla Walla 

Rynerson, F. M.Seattle 


WISCONSIN. 

Mueller, Dr. Victor F.'.Milwaukee 

Tuttle, Sidney .Janesville 

WYOMING. 

Baker, E. P.Laramie 

Bartlett, Sidney E.Cheyenne 

Beeler, Henry C.Cheyenne 

Grant, N. M.Laramie 

Miller, Fred A. ..Laramie 

Richards, A. G.. . Laramie 


President Richards then delivered his annual address, which will be 
found in Part II. of this Report, at page 000. 





























































AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


43 


DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: There was certain things 
brought out in the President’s address which certainly are worthy of 
most careful consideration by this Congress. I had thought a moment 
ago to move the reference of that address to a special committee to see 
what it might bring out in the form of a resolution before this body, but 
I think probably the same thing can be covered by a special reference 
of that address to the committee on resolutions itself so that that com¬ 
mittee may originate, as I understand it has the power to do, resolutions 
if such were not presented by the individual members of the Congress. I 
will therefore move the reference of the President’s address to the com¬ 
mittee on resolutions. 

Motion seconded, put by the President and declared carried. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question now to be presented for 
your consideration appears on the program under the title “Mine Drain¬ 
age Districts,” by D. W. Brunton of Colorado, the chairman of the com¬ 
mittee which prepared the proposed law, and the man selected for that 
position because of his wide experience in the matter of mine drainage. 

More than twenty-five years ago, Mr. Brunton planned the drainage 
plants for the Robert E. Lee, Wolftone and Duncan mines at Leadville. 

In 1889 the renowned Cowenhoven tunnel was constructed at Aspen 
under the direction of Mr. Brunton, and afforded drainage for practi¬ 
cally one-half of the Aspen mining district. In 1894 a supplementary 
system known as the FTee Silver, draining this ground to a depth of 
1,000 feet lower than the Cowenhoven tunnel, was constructed under his 
direction. 

In 1901-2-3 he engineered the drainage system of the Anaconda Cop¬ 
per Company at Butte, Montana, which, through several miles of laterals, 
united all the shafts of the Anaconda company, at the 2,200 foot level. 
From this point the water was elevated by pumps 1,900 feet to the level 
of a drainage tunnel. 

At the present time, Mr. Brunton is the consulting engineer for the 
proposed Cripple Creek drainage system, which it is estimated will cost 
above three-quarters of a million dollars. 

I take pleasure in introducing to you, Mr. D. W. Brunton of Colorado. 
(Applause.) 

MR. BRUNTON OF COLORADO: Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentle¬ 
men and Members of the Congress: Our President has just said that I 
have been asked to introduce the subject of mine drainage to-night, be¬ 
cause of my connection with various drainage enterprises, but I fail to see 
why boring a tunnel to tap off a surplus supply of water should give me 
the privilege of boring this audience to drain of their surplus stock of pa¬ 
tience and good humor. As a presidential candidate once said about the 
tariff, mine drainage is entirely a local issue. In Arizona and Nevada a 
fiow of water is always welcome, not only in allaying irritating dust in 
the levels and stopes, but for the value it has when brought to the surface. 

Mr. Brunton’s paper will be found in latter part of this report. See 
-index. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: This presents to you an important ques¬ 
tion, and it is now open, as I understand it, for discussion, and it is de¬ 
sired by those who have brought this question forward that there will be 
the fullest expression of your views upon this question, which is so im¬ 
portant, especially to some of the districts, in all these western states. 
We hope you will take this opportunity to discuss this matter thoroughly. 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, inasmuch as I antici¬ 
pate that this question will take up considerable time, and as this has 
been a rather strenuous day for the delegates, many of them arriving this 
morning on account of late trains, I move that we now adjourn to ten 
o’clock to-morrow to take up this question and give it plenty of time. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the chairman and declared car¬ 
ried. 

An adjournment was thereupon taken until October 17, 1906, at ten 
o’clock a. m. 


44 


OFFICIATE PROCEEDINGS 


OCTOBER 17, 1906, 10 A. M. 

THE PRESIDENT: Let the Congress be in order. 

The Trans-Mississippi Congress, which will hold its next annual ses¬ 
sion at Kansas City beginning November 20th, has extended to this or¬ 
ganization an invitation to select some man to attend the session of that 
Congress and present the question of the creation of a department of 
mines and mining, and it seems to me that this body should consider this 
matter and select some man to deliver an address upon that subject on 
that occasion. If you are ready to take the matter up now, all right; 
if not, we can postpone it until you consider it more fully in order that 
we may find the right man. 

MR. E. A. COLBURN OF COLORADO: I move that the President 
be authorized to appoint such a committee. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the President, and declared 
carried. 

THE PRESIDENT: The Secretary has some announcements to 
make. 

The Secretary thereupon read telegrams from Ex-Governor A. W. Mc¬ 
Intyre of Washington, stating that his train was ten hours late, and from 
the Norfolk, Virginia, Chamber of Commerce inviting the American Min¬ 
ing Congress to hold its next session in that city. 

THE SECRETARY: I might also say that we have a number of writ¬ 
ten invitations from various other Commercial bodies which will be 
presented at the proper time: 

I also have this invitation: 

Denver, Colo., Oct. 16, 1906. 

To the Secretary of the American Mining Congress: The Colorado 

Scientific Society cordially invites the members, delegates and their 
friends to visit the rooms of the society to see the mineral collections and 
library. Not only this, but the society welcomes members of the Ameri¬ 
can Mining Congress, with the hope that its rooms will be used as head¬ 
quarters while they are in the city. The rooms of the society are on the 
first fioor of the Chamber of Commerce Building, Fourteenth and Law¬ 
rence streets. (Signed.) PHILIP ARGALL, President. 

MR. DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Mr. President, I will say to the Con¬ 
gress that the committee on resolutions is organized and ready for the 
consideration of any resolution which any member of the Congress may 
desire to present, and I report the first resolution that has been consid¬ 
ered and ask the Secretary to read it, and then I will yield the floor to 
Governor Pardee of California, who is the author of this resolution. 

The secretary thereupon read the said resolution, as follows: 

“Believing that the co-operation of our government with the American 
farmer, through the Department of Agriculture, has demonstrated the 
wisdom of this method of co-operation with the American people in giv¬ 
ing direction to American industrial forces; and, 

“Believing that the co-operation of our government with the Ameri¬ 
can miner, through a Department of Mining will give an additional and 
conclusive proof that American industrial progress can be most perma¬ 
nently advanced through this method of co-operation between the govern¬ 
ment and the people; therefore, be it 

“Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in convention assem¬ 
bled most earnestly urge upon our federal Congress the importance of 
creating a Department of Mining co-ordinate with the Department of Ag¬ 
riculture.” ’ 

GOVERNOR PARDEE OF CALIFORNIA: Mr. President and gentle¬ 
men of this Congress: It is hardly necessary, perhaps, for any remarks 
to be made upon the floor of this Congress in favor of the adoption of that 
resolution, and yet I feel that if the resolution were simply submitted to 
the Congress without anything being said in its favor, and the resolution 
were then adopted by a formal vote of the Congress, the importance of 
the subject matter of the resolution would not be brought sufficiently for- 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


45 


ward for the public to apprehend how important it is. Therefore, with 
the indulgence of the chair and the members of the Congress I would 
like the privilege of saying a few words in favor of the adoption of the 
resolution. 

You all realize thoroughly how important agriculture is in this coun¬ 
try and how it has been fostered and taken care of by the government of 
the United States, which represents the people of the United States. The 
millions of dollars that have been spent to forward agriculture in this 
country have been well expended and no member of this Congress, no 
mining man, no man who is interested in the mineralogy of this country 
envies or in any way deprecates the spending of that money by the na¬ 
tional government in favor of agriculture. Commerce and labor have 
their departments and their portfolios in the cabinet of the President of 
the United States, and I for one say “Well done,” and I am glad that 
those departments of this country’s activities have been taken care of. 
Yet one of the greatest—and probably to be the greatest—activities of 
this country is now simply put into the basket and allowed to be taken 
care of by an over-worked bureau of the government. The dignity and im¬ 
portance of the mining industry of this country demand that it should re¬ 
ceive at the hands of the government that care and that fostering looking 
after which other interests of the country have received at the hands of 
the government. I hope sincerely that the government of the United States 
will take care of this industry, and we of the Mining Congress should be 
patient, and we have been long suffering, because things of this impor¬ 
tance and this magnitude move slowly, but the time will come, and if this 
Mining Congress does its duty to itself and the interests it represents it 
will hasten forward the consummation which we here so devoutly wish. 
(Applause.) Mr. President, I move the adoption of the resolution. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the President, and declared 
carried. 

A MEMBER: I suggest the advisability of appointing a ways and 
means committee to suggest to this body how they propose to secure the 
enactment of the legislation as indicated in the resolution just passed. 

MR. KING OF CONNECTICUT: I would move the appointment of 
such a committee by the President of this Congress, a committee on ways 
and means. What number would you suggest? 

THE PRESIDENT: I think three would be a good number. 

Mr. King: A committee of three as a w^ays and means committee 
whose business and duty it shall be.to forward the interests of this move¬ 
ment under the direction of the Congress and to report to the Congress. 

Motion seconded. 

THE PRESIDENT: It has been moved and seconded that a commit¬ 
tee of three be appointed to consider and report to this Congress ways 
and means by which w^e shall be enabled to secure the creation of a de¬ 
partment of mines and mining. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. WIRE OF ILLINOIS: I offer an amendment changing the mem¬ 
bership from three to five. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is no objection it will stand, 
then, five instead of three. 

The motion, as amended, was thereupon put by the President and 
declared carried. 

THE SECRETARY: The committee on program has arranged that 
immediately after the conclusion of the discussion and final action on the 
mine drainage law the consideration of the report of the committee, of 
which Governor Pardee of California is chairman, urging the enactment 
of a law for the suppression of mining frauds will next be in order. Thurs¬ 
day morning the paper by Senator De La Vergne on the question of the 
mining and smelting interests will come up for discussion.- 


46 


OFFICIAJ. PROCEEDINGS 


This evening at 8 o’clock the members of the Mining Congress are re¬ 
quested to meet promptly for the purpose of holding the annual meeting 
for the election of directors. I presume the meeting will be of but short 
duration, as the by-laws provide that a committee of five shall be selected 
to make nominations to submit to a later meeting of the members 
and I take it that after the reading and approval of the minutes of the last 
meeting a committee of five will be selected to make nominations for 
the three directors who are to be elected, and that an adjournment will 
be taken to some other time in order to give that committee opportunity 
to report. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I have a resolution to in¬ 
troduce at this time, if it is in order. It is as follows: 

“Whereas, There is a vast discrepancy in the promulgation through 
the press, and the various smelting companies operating in the different 
states in the quotation of metals; therefore, be it 

“Resolved by this Congress, That the basis of quotations announced 
daily by the Associated Press shall constitute the standard upon which 
all metal settlements shall be made; and 

“Resolved, further. That this resolution be forwarded to all the 
smelting companies operating in the different states and territories of the 
United States with the request that this method of settlement be adopted, 
in justice to the ore producer.” 

THE PRESIDENT: The resolution will be referred to the Resolu¬ 
tions Committee. 

MR. GREGG OF MISSOURI: Is the election of directors one in 
which only members shall have a vote? Delegates are not to be consid¬ 
ered unless members of the Congress? 

THE PRESIDENT: It is a legal body, and jonly members have a 
right to vote for officers. 

MR. W. R. INGALLS OP NEW YORK: I desire to offer this res¬ 
olution : 

“Whereas, The best interests of the mining industry demand that all 
possible precautions be exercised to preserve the safety of the men en¬ 
gaged in it; and, 

“Whereas, The state laws controlling mining operations are in many 
cases defective and there is a frequent disregard of them, both by miners 
and operators; 

“Resolved, That the American Mining Congress place itself on record 
as advocating measures which will insure the maximum safety in mining; 

“Resolved, That a committee of eleven mining engineers and mine 
operators be appointed by the American Mining Congress to draft a uni¬ 
form law governing metalliferous mining and quarrying in the various 
states, with a view toward securing its general adoption as a substitute 
for existing laws, said committee to report at the next session of the 
American Mining Congress. 

“Resolved, That a committee of eleven members be appointed to urge 
upon the states in which coal mining is conducted, the appointment of 
a commission to investigate the conditions affecting safety in coal mining 
and secure the co-operation of the national government in such an inves¬ 
tigation with a view toward the formulation and enforcement of adequate 
laws governing this branch of the mining industry.” 

THE PRESIDENT: The resolution will be referred to the commit¬ 
tee. 

The unfinished business to come before this meeting this morning 
is a discussion of a question of creating mine drainage districts, which 
was presented by Mr. Brunton last evening. The question is now open 
for discussion. 

MR. DANIELS OF/ COLORADO: Mr. President, I am not well 
enough informed in regard to the proposed law to express any particular 
opinion, but I would like to ask a couple of questions. Presumably, the 


% 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


47 


committee has considered the subject matter and will be able to answer 
directly. The first is whether or not the committee has considered as to 
the matter of the possibility of a property within a drainage district not 
receiving any drainage therefrom, and whether there ougnt not to be some 
provision relieving such a property from taxation for the cost of drainage, 
whatever it may be. I do not know whether I have made the question 
clear or not, but I will try and state it a little briefer. In any drainage 
district that might be provided for under the law there may be properties 
taxed, which receive no benefit whatever from the construction of the 
drainage system and the question is whether or not the committee has 
considered that some provision ought to be made to relieve that partic¬ 
ular property from the cost of an improvement which is of no benefit 
whatever to it. 

The other point is that, unquestionably, a great many districts may 
be drained by a tunnel which, after its completion, might be used as a 
transportation tunnel, and I would like to ask whether or not the commit¬ 
tee has considered the possible use of the tunnel for transportation pur¬ 
poses and the revenue that might be derived therefrom—whether the 
proposed law should not specifically provide or give authority for operat¬ 
ing such a tunnel as a transportation tunnel in case conditions permit 
it, and specifically provide for the use of the revenue tnat might come 
therefrom. 

THE PRESIDENT: Are there any further remarks upon this ques¬ 
tion? These are pertinent questions that have just been asked. 

MR. BRUNTON: With regard to the point of whether a mine 
should be relieved from the payment of its portion of the taxes because 
it receives no benefit, that has been very thoroughly considered. Every 
mining man knows full well that nobody ever received any benefit from 
pumping plants or tunnels constructed by his neighbor. Even when 
mines that have been under water for years are drained, the neighbor will 
deny flat-footed that they have received any benefit. Of course they do 
this simply for the purpose of evading the payment of a portion of 
the expense. I do not think any exception of that kind should be made, 
because it would bring about endless litigation. Every mine inside of a 
prescribed area should pay its pro rata, whether it can be proved to have 
received benefit or not. There is no doubt on that question. Everyone 
who has ever been connected with drainage enterprises knows that, as I 
said before, no one will ever own up, except in ^very isolated cases, to hav¬ 
ing received any benefit from a neighbor’s draining system. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Should not the supervisors that 
are provided for in the act as recommended be the ones to decide whether 
any particular property has received benefit or not and whether it should 
be relieved from taxation or not. It seems to me that a very material 
injustice to some, possibly very few, that might be included in the drain¬ 
age dfstrict. As I said, I am not well posted in the matter, and what I 
say is off-hand, but it seems to me that a provision might be made in a 
law of that kind that would leave the decision with the supervisors, sub¬ 
ject, of course, to an appeal to the courts, so as to bring about exact jus¬ 
tice in the matter. I certainly can appreciate that if I were the owner 
of a mine and I had contributed to the construction of a drainage tunnel 
which did not help my property, I should think it was unfair to compel me 
to pay a portion of the expense of draining someone else’s property. I 
would kindly ask you to repeat what you said in regard to transportation. 

I didn’t hear it. 

MR. BRUNTON OF COLORADO: No provision is made in the pres¬ 
ent bill for the use of the tunnel for the purposes of transportation or any 
income that would come from such use. That probably should be added 
to the bill; but with regard to the other, the bill provides that the com¬ 
pensation of the supervisors shall not exceed $500 a year. If the matter 
of judgment as to whether any particular mine had received any benefit 
from the drainage had to be decided by the supervisors, they would have 


48 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


to be paid an amount necessary to enable them to neglect all their other 
business and no nothing else. That is certain. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Excuse my persistence, but if the 
drainage is worth the sum that is claimed for it, might not that district 
have to pay a good deal more than $500 each to the proper men to act 
as supervisors; or, if that, possibly, is an insuperable objection, why not 
then refer the decision as to whether a property is benefited or not 
directly to the courts? 

MR. BRUNTON: I would say in reply to that that I think the gen¬ 
tleman misunderstands the question. Now, in the case of any particular 
mine in which the water level was not lowered by a pumping plant or a 
tunnel, the obvious remedy would be to connect that mine with the pump¬ 
ing station or the tunnel level. That would not require anywhere near 
the amount of expense that would have been necessary originally before 
the tunnel or pumping plant was installed. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: One more question. Suppose that 
this property that is not benefited can not reach that pumping station or 
drainage tunnel without crossing other property, how could that private 
individual or private corporation cross those properties against the will, 
perhaps, of the owners, under your proposed legislation 

MR. BRUNTON OF COLORADO: The remedy in that case is doubt¬ 
less by individual contract with the drainage company. 

MR. GEORGE COLLINS OF COLORADO: From conversation I have 
had with various people interested in the question of mine drainage, it 
seems to be the general concensus of opinion that this is the first really 
practical plan that has ever been brought up to solve the question of 
co-operative drainage, and while of course I am not in any way competent 
to pass upon the legal status of this proposed act, from the point of view 
of an engineer it seems a very practicable thing. But there is one point 
I notice in the draft here which seems to me likely to tend to restrict its 
utility. It is proposed in section 1 that the petition for a district organiza¬ 
tion must be made by not less than ten persons owning an aggregate area 
of not less than 320 acres. Now, in most cases where it is proposed that 
the method of drainage shall be by tunnel I suppose the district affected 
would be equal to or in excess of 320 acres, but there are a great number 
of cases where the drainage would be by shaft where so large an area as 
320 acres might not be directly benefited. 

There is another point to be considered. In some of the older dis¬ 
tricts, and particularly some of the older districts in this state, the impor¬ 
tance of mining property might almost be said to be in inverse proportion 
to its size. In Gilpin county, for instance, one of the districts that might 
be greatly benefited by drainage enterprises, most of the older and more 
important claims are only fifty feet in width. There are a great many of 
the most important properties in Gilpin county the total surface of which 
is less than one acre. It seems to me that it is a mistake to provide that 
the petition must be supported by the owners of 320 acres of land; it 
ought rather to be the owners of the most important properties. I would 
suggest, as a much more practical plan, that the petition should be sup¬ 
ported by owners representing a given proportion of the total assessed 
valuation of the area that they propose to make their drainage district. 
It is well known that in some cases, directly an important mine is devel¬ 
oped the surrounding acreage is taken up by other people, frequently 
speculators, with the object of benefiting by its expenditures and the en¬ 
terprise of its owners. To provide that the whole thing should depend 
on acreage would practically take the question of whether or not you are 
to have drainage districts from the hands of the enterprising people and 
put it into those of speculators who msy have taken up a large area 
merely for the sake of the territory. I can see no possible objection to 
changing the basis to a proportion of the valuation of the proi^osed dis¬ 
trict. In any case, it seems to me that as large a minimum area as 320 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


49 


acres to be represented in the original petition would in many cases re¬ 
strict the application of the act altogether, because in some cases less than 
320 acres will be benefited by the proposed scheme, 

MR. JOSEPH OF UTAH: I presume this is not merely a local prop¬ 
osition. It doesn’t apply to Colorado alone. We in Utah have some prob¬ 
lems to solve, and one question presents itself to me, and probably one 
in which the Utah delegation, in presenting this matter to our Legis¬ 
lature will be called upon to answer. That is, respecting the taxation 
upon the properties which are to be benefited. There may be in a drain¬ 
age district a great number of locations, taking the minimum amount of 
drainage embraced in the proposed drainage district, as 320 acres, which 
means about sixteen claims, under the new law, or about fifty claims un¬ 
der the old law—the law of 1873. Now, I would like to know from the 
committee as to what solution they have for-the proposition as to the tax¬ 
ation on mining claims which are merely locations and upon which the 
title still rests in the government of the United States. Section 18 pro¬ 
vides for taxation on the property—I will read it. (Reads section 18.) 

Now, I don’t know how the law is in Colorado, but I know how it is 
in Utah. Locations are not taxed. The assessments on locations are not 
put on the books of the assessor. Now, how this tax is going to be col¬ 
lected or wull be a lien upon the property is more than I can see, because 
if the location should lapse the title would then revert to the United 
States government, and no' lien can hold as against the government. I 
would like to be enlightened upon that proposition. I presume that the 
committee that formulated this bill or plan had in mind districts in which 
all the claims were patented, but I would like to know how it would be in 
districts where they would not be all patented, as to how this tax would 
be collected and how the lien would operate. 

MR. BRUNTON: 1 would say that the paragraph was worded in that 

particular way so that any state taking up this bill could \ary it to suit 
the legal requirements of that state. This is merely a draft intended to 
give us some basis for discussion. 

MR. JOSEPH OP UTAH: Can you suggest any plan as to how we 
should present it to our Legislature? 

MR. BRUNTON: 1 wouldn’t like to do it off-hand. 

MR. JOSEPHS:. I think the committee should give this matter some 
consideration, because it is of very vital importance. I know it is in our 
state. We are a young state yet, although prominent in the mining world, 
but there are a great many claims in districts which need drainage that 
are not patented and that will necessarily get the benefit of this law. 
While I am in hearty sympathy with the tenor of the law, I would like to 
have the ground fully covered before I am ready to vote on it and take 
it back to my state and say that it is a law that we ought to have. 

MR. CALLBREATH: May I answer the question in part? The com¬ 
mittee, in the preparation of this law, had in mind the reaching for every 
bit of ownership which any man in that district possessed. As Mr. Jo 
sephs has well said, it is impossible for us to enact any law which will 
create a lien against the property of the government of the United States, 
hnd therefore the owner of a claim in a district may have his interest in 
that claim taxed, and his interest in that claim sold to meet that tax, and 
if there is no purchaser for that interest the tax on that particular bit of 
property would fail. The committee had in mind reaching just as far as 
it could in gathering in all the property which might lie within the bounds 
of any particular district. If it should happen that all of the property in 
a district with the exception of one or two claims should belong to the 
United States government, it would be impossible to create a drainage 
district at that plade, and it is only where a majority of the owners are 
willing to go ahead and create the mine drainage system that this plan 
can be carried out. The idea is that you may tax only the interest of the 
individuals who have these claims, and for the purpose of recovering the 


50 


OFFICIATE PROCEEDINGS 


money necessary to meet these costs you can sell the owner’s interest in 
such claims, and if there is no purchaser for that, the tax for that particu¬ 
lar'part of the district must fail. The committee could go no further in 
the preparation of this law. 

MR. PECK OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I have glanced over 
the proposed drainage law somewhat, and we might as well begin with 
section 1, which seems to me to be open to some criticism. Section 1 pro¬ 
vides that the minimum drainage area shall be 320 ac? - ^ I believe that 
is entirely too small for the original area to be, because in section 8 it 
provides that the boundaries may be diminished but they can not be en¬ 
larged. I can see where it might be possible for conflicting drainage 
areas to work a hardship upon the mine owners of any particular district, 
inasmuch as this law proposes to make this a municipality. I think that 
section 8 should provide that the drainage area could me enlarged as well 
diminished, and I think it should prescribe some mode of procedure for 
either enlarging or diminishing a drainage area. 

Section 13 provides that after a drainage district has been established 
the petitioners shall file with the district judge the names of fifteen per¬ 
sons to act as trustees or supervisors, and that this judge shall select five 
of those men to serve for a term of one, two, three, four and five years 
respectively. After that time the vacancies are filled by the district judge. 
I do not think the vacancies should be filled in that way. I think they 
should be filled by an election of the mine owners within the drainage 
district voting according to the acreage held by each. 

Section 15 gives that particular Board of Directors absolute power 
to determine the system of drainage and assess the costs; and sections 
16 and 17 gives this board the power to let all contracts, employ all labor, 
contract all bills, and the mine owners must paj^ them and have absolutely 
no voice whatever in the matter; there is no provision whereby this board 
shall account to anyone, and section 18 gives them power to issue bonds, 
and those bonds become a lien upon the property within the drainage 
district. In many cases the officers of-mining companies (and section 13 
contemplates they can be supervisors) labsolutely have no knowledge of 
the requirements of mining. I think that Board of Supervisors should be 
an elective board, and that it be taken entirely out of the hands of an in¬ 
dividual. 

As to section 23, it seems to me that section is entirely surplusage, 
because prior to this time each drainage district has’become a municipal 
government, and I believe that all that is covered by section 23 is now 
covered by the statutes of this state and the law of eminent domain. 
I am not speaking from the standpoint of a lav/yer, because I 
am not a lawyer; I am only a miner; but I do know some¬ 
thing about the requirements of mining districts. In districts where 
they are now pumping water, as Leadville for instance, there are 
cases where the pumping stations are handling the water for a 
large area. The pumping stations are owned and controlled and operated 
by individua.ls who are footing the bills, but how are you going to get a 
drainage area established when it requires ten names and when less than 
ten persons are now paying for the pumping for the entire district. Those 
other fellows are not going to apply for a drainage district to make them 
stand their part of the expense unless they have to. It seems to me that 
we should have a law making it possible for a private corporation to 
inaugurate a drainage system, establish their boundaries, or the mine 
owners establish their boundaries, and that such corporation should be 
given the right of eminent domain for drainage or transportation tun¬ 
nels, and they should receive compensation from the properties drained, 
and such corporation should be protected the same as all public utility 
corporations, and should be able to collect a fair compensation for services 
rendered. I believe that the properties drained should pay whether they 
are producers or not. It is just as essential that the properties should be 
drained during the period of development as after they are producing 
mines. In all mining districts we have a well known water level, it 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


51 


varies but very little between any of the properties. It is not hard to 
determine where that water level is, and I think that a board should 
be appointed consisting of the state engineer, an engineer selected by the 
mine owners of the district, the two to select a third, and they to deter¬ 
mine to what depth the general water level is reached, or at what depth 
the various properties should be taxed. I don’t think it is equitable for 
any property to be assessed for drainage that is working above the 
known water level, regardless of what the production of that property 
may be. I think the proposed bill in regard to the selection of the super¬ 
visors should certainly be changed. It provides that the judge—and it 
don’t say what mode of procedure shall be adopted—can reduce or dimin¬ 
ish this drainage area. He can do it at any time, so far as I can see in 
this bill, ‘and a comparatively few people be forced to foot the bills. 
Those things seem to me to be impracticable and unjust. I think there 
should be some mode of procedure mapped out in a bill of this kind pro¬ 
viding for all those things, which this bill does not seem to do; this comes 
under the-head of municipal, a government which is absolutely controlled 
by one man, a district judge of that district, who shall appoint people 
who are to determine the drainage system, and who shall lalso designate 
those who are too foot the bills and who will place practically a mortgage 
upon our properties. Section 16 provides that this board shall adver¬ 
tise what they are going to do and notify the mine owners of what 
they shall do. What good does that section do? The mine owners simply 
receive notice that they are going to do a certain thing, without any 
means of altering that thing which they propose to do, there is no pro¬ 
vision for review or appeal. 

I should dislike to see this bill become a law; I am not able to draft 
a bill, but believe if we could get a law that would make it possible for 
private individuals or corporations to collect for drainage we would soon 
have all the drainage systems necessary. 

MR. J. P. HEIMER OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I presume we 
could spend the entire time of this Congress in picking exceptions to this 
bill that has been drawn so carefully by the committee. I have not heard 
a single objection with the proper remedy suggested but what that rem¬ 
edy would be open to criticism more than anything that appears in the 
bill as drafted by the committee. As to unpatented mining ground, the 
Secretary has answered that as well as it could be answered, in my judg¬ 
ment, at least. Now, as to the water level, the gentleman applies the re¬ 
marks, I presume, to the local districts of Leadville. We all know that 
in other districts at least, at different times in the year—and the mines 
are operated as much in the winter months and in the springtime as much 
as at any other time—the water level would vary from one to two hundred 
feet. I know that it is true in the Black Hills; and I know also that it is 
true the water level would vary at any time of the year from 50 to 200 feet 
at the same season of the year at points 200 feet apart. So it seems to 
me that we are spending a great deal of valuable time without very much 
progress. 

MR. DE LAVERGNE OF COLORADO: I do not understand that sec¬ 
tion 1 intends to prescribe the limits of a district to 320 acres, as the 
gentleman from Leadville seems to infer; but what I rise to say is this: 
I have had a little experience just along the line that he suggests as to 
how you are going to get ten men to sign a petition when one man is 
doing all the pumping. I will tell you what I did. I succeeded a former 
manager who was pumping for almost the entire Cripple Creek district, 
and the surrounding mines were patting the management on the back and 
telling them what good mining superintendents and managers they were 
because they were draining all the property, and that system was fol¬ 
lowed until they were fifty thousand dollars in debt. I shut the mine 
down, shut the pumping down at once, and it was but a very short Lime 
until all the neighbors were ready to come in and help contribute to the 
cost of drainage. Let them experience some of the difficulties you are 
laboring under and they will help you. Mining men are selfish, and it will 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


52 


be miraculous if we do not get some selfish persons in this Mining Con¬ 
gress who would oppose all these drainage systems, and I want to say to 
you that until you touch a man’s pocket he is not very much interested 
in how you succeed. We must have some law that will be for the general 
good. In making improvements of a public character in the city you are 
bound to injure some persons, but the general good demands it. We can 
not make a rule that will work to the interest of every individual. We 
have had a sad experience of this character in the Cripple Creek district. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: The questions that I asked are not 
intended in any way as a criticism or in opposition to the report. I dis¬ 
agree with my friend over here who says we are wasting time. If we 
are not to discuss the matter of this legislation and decide as to what 
is best we should have adopted the report of the committee before it 
was presented and given them authority to go ahead with it. I am in 
favor of th^e report of the committee, but I would like to see it improved 
if it can be brought out in this meeting that there is room for improve¬ 
ment. I disagree with the gentleman from Leadville in regard to his 
opinion that a property which is not working below any certain water level 
should not be taxed. I believe that the provision for taxation requiring 
the taxes to be levied on all mining property within any prescribed dis¬ 
trict is correct. You might as well say that we should not tax a certain 
property owner for the construction of roads because he does not use 
them. The roads are there for him to use, and it benefits his property, 
and he should help to pay the expense, and the same exactly is true of 
mining property. Whether the property is worked or not, whether it is 
improved or developed or not, it certainly is benefited by a proper drain¬ 
age system, and it increases the value of the property and the owner 
should pay his portion of the taxes. It has occurred to me, however, dhr- 
ing the discussion, that there should be a provision in the bill for en¬ 
larging the drainage district, under proper notice, of course, to all in¬ 
terested. because the converse of the question I asked a while ago might 
develop, and that is that a certain drainage system might drain property 
outside of the drainage district, and in that case there should be some pro¬ 
vision by which that property could be taken into the drainage district 
and compelled to pay its portion of the costs in justice to all concerned. 

Now, in reference to section 16, I think the objection made by, the 
gentleman is not valid, and that is that after a system of drainage is de¬ 
cided upon and the owners notified they are powerless. I am not an at¬ 
torney, and I would like to ask our Secretary, who I believe is an attorney, . 
if any one who felt aggrieved has not the right of appeal to the courts, 
even though it is not specifically provided for in this proposed bill. 

MR. CALLBREATH: No question about it. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: That is my understanding, and I 
believe the rights of the property owner are not protected under that sec¬ 
tion. * I 

So far as the question of eminent domain is concerned, that section is 
superfluous, at least in Colorado, because in Colorado under a recent de¬ 
cision of the Supreme Court mining and drainage tunnels have the right 
of eminent domain. The Supreme Court recently sustained Judge Ste¬ 
vens in the southern part of the state giving that right to a drainage tim- 
nel company in that district. 

MR. CALLBREATH: May I answer one or two inquiries that have 
been made? First, as to the provision for enlarging the district. You 
can well understand that it would be impossible after the district had 
once been formed and the owners of that district had due, legal notice of 
that fact that it was proposed to tax them, to thereafter enlarge the dis¬ 
trict and bring under that legal proceeding men who had not had this 
legal notice. If it should appear that the drainage district should be en¬ 
larged, the only method by which that can be accomplished is to cancel 
the proceedings that far and make a petition for a new district in which 
all of those you expect to tax shall have legal notice. If you put a bur- 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


den of taxation upon any man who had not had proper legal notice it will 
be possible for him to effectively protest against the proceedings if he saw 
fit to do so. 

MR. DANIELS OP COLORADO: Couldn’t there be a provision for 
a legal notice of the enlargement that would answer the same purpose as 
the original notice? 

MR. CALLBREATH: That might be, but it would be just as simple 
to give a new notice to all of the parties in the district and the petition 
for a new district. It might be that men who are willing to become a 
part of a described drainage district would be unwillipg to be part of a 
larger drainage district, so that every man should have notice of that 
particular improvement for which he is expected to pay. It would be 
easier to discontinue the proceedings and begin over again with a new 
petition. ' ' 

I want to say a word as to the filling of these vacancies and as to the 
men who are to be named as supervisors. It is provided that those in¬ 
terested in the district shall present a list of fifteen names to the judge 
of the district court, and from that list the judge is to appoint five. Now, 
those five as clearly represent the best interests of that district as it 
could possibly be made, and when vacancies are to be filled the judge is 
to choose the men to fill the vacancies from the list provided by the men 
interested in the district. 

MR. PARKER OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I thought it might 
expedite the discussion of this proposed bill by taking it up by sections 
and anyone having amendments to propose to present those amendments 
in writing and then speak to them if they so desire so that we can have 
the Congress pass upon them and avoid a lot of general discussion which 
does not bring things to a head. I would like to make that as a motion, 
that it be taken up by sections. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the president and declared 
carried. 

DR. HOLMES: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemens I would like 
to make one suggestion, and I will make it in a formal motion, which I 
believe will expedite the business of this Congress. We do not want to do 
anything hurriedly, but to do everything thoroughly. The motion is as 
follows—that all amendments to this proposed law be submitted in writing 
and turned over to the chairman of that committee; that is, that the re¬ 
port, together with all these amendments, to be returned to the chairman 
of that committee, to be discussed by the committee; that parties who 
wish to argue their amendments argue them before the committee at a 
session this afternoon, and that the committee’s report, for the further 
consideration of these amendments, be brought back tb this body to-mor¬ 
row morning, and after that is disposed of, if that motion is agreed to, it 
could be followed by a motion that the proposed law by Governor Pardee 
be then reported to this conference so that we can have some preliminary 
discussion of that, and if some further delay is necessary in that, that in 
turn can be returned to the committee for action again to-morrow. I 
then offer this motion—that all amendments be handed in in writing to 
the chairman of that committee; that they then be considered, together 
with the law itself, by the committee and reported back to this Con¬ 
gress with recommendations to-morrow morning. 

Motion seconded. 

A DELEGATE: I would like to ask how many of this committee are 
present. 

THE PRESIDENT: The majority of the committee are here. 

THE PRESIDENT: It has been moved and seconded that all amend¬ 
ments be submitted in writing to the committee; that any discussion of 
those amendments desired to be presented to the committee, and that the 
committee, after further consideration, report back with their recommen- 


54 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


dations to the session to-morrow morning. Are you ready for the ques¬ 
tion? 

MR. CALLBREATH: May I suggest that this motion be amended so 
as to have those recommendations returned this evening. To-morrow 
morning has been set aside for the reading of a paper by Senator De La- 
vergne, and discussion on that, and in view of the fact that Mr, Guiter- 
man is expected to be present at that meeting to discuss the same ques¬ 
tion I think it would be unwise to force that discussion to another time. 


MR. FREEMAN MORNINGSTAR, UTAH: I would suggest that 
in making any amendments to this bill, inasmuch as considerable time 
has been given to the matter by our Board of Directors and those who 
have had it in charge in preparing it, while additions might properly be 
made, yet to change the present wording of the document might raise 
havoc, because considering it in a rather impromptu manner is not nearly 
as good as the consideration the bill has already had. 

MR. I. F. PECK OP COLORADO: I would like to offer an amend¬ 
ment that this be laid over until Friday morning instead of to-morrow 
morning. I believe in drainage districts and drainage district laws—and 
I want to correct the idea that I am from Leadville, because I am not. 
But I can say that Leadville is affected as much as any mining camp in 
the state, I think the members of this association should have a 
little more time to consider this and get it before the convention a little 
more intelligently. To-morrow morning is rather a short time. 


DR. HOLMES: I am informed by the chairman of the committee 
that he is compelled to leave by to-morrow evening. I would therefore ac¬ 
cept the amendment offered by the Secretary for this evening at 8 o”clock. 


THE PRESIDENT: Mr. R. S. Morrison, one of the most eminent min¬ 
ing authorities in the West, will assist the committee. 

Gentlemen, you have heard the motion, with the amendment offered 
by the Secretary, which has been accepted by Dr. Holmes, that the com¬ 
mittee report at 8 o’clock this evening instead of to-morrow morning. All 
those in favor of that motion will so signify by saying, “Aye;” opposed, 
“No.” The ayes seem to have it; the ayes have it, and motion is carried. 

DR. HOLMES: I would like to ask for the report of Governor Par¬ 
dee. 


THE PRESIDENT: Is Governor Pardee present? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE OF CALIFORNIA: Mr. President, Ladies and 
Gentlemen of the Congress: Out in California, if a man burglarizes my 
house and I catch him and get a jury to convict him and a court to sen¬ 
tence him, we will put him in jail. And we have not a very high respect 
for a man who shoves a revolver under your nose and holds you up and 
takes from you all you have. The sure-thing men and the bunco men 
out in California are not looked upon as very good citizens, and we have 
had various and sundry laws passed by the Legislature compelling those 
people, where we can catch and convict and sentence them, to spend 
some time in jail. Now, I presume there are similar laws in every state 
and territory in this Union. Even down in the Sunshine state, of which 
we heard so much yesterday over in the theater, at one time so well pre¬ 
sided over by Governor Prince and now presided over by the poet-scout_ 

even down in New Mexico I understand they have similar laws for the 
protection of the pocket and the purse and the property of the tenderfoot 
and the person who is held up and robbed. But some way or other the 
mining interests have not protected themselves and people may be robbed 
under the guise of mining ventures. I remember here only a very short 
time ago there was a party who had his headquarters in Philadelphia and 
he was flooding California, and I presume other states, with all kinds of 
literature concerning a mining property or mining properties which were 
supposed or said to be held under the august nomenclature of 
The Clover Creek Mining Company, and this individual sent out litera¬ 
ture containing all kinds of assurances and promises, and among other 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


55 


things he said that they had a quicksilver proposition, in a county in 
California where there never was any quicksilver, and I don’t suppose 
ever will be. But he described in glowing terms the greatness of that 
property; it was one of many that he had; and he showed by the reports 
of experts and mining engineers, or people who signed themselves mining 
engineers, that there were two billion dollars’ worth of ore in sight, and 
all they wanted was a measly twelve thousand dollars, which they pro¬ 
posed to raise by the sale of stock at lt» cents per share in order to de¬ 
velop that great property in this county of which I speak. Besides that, 
they had great gold properties and great silver and copper properties. 
We found, on examining the laws of the state of California, that we had, 
in a way, a law prohibiting mining frauds of that kind. But when we 
came to investigate further, we found there was only one way in which 
we could get at this man who was robbing the people of the state of 
California, and incidentally, I presume, the people of other states and 
territories, and that was to appeal to the postal authorities. There was 
no way we could get at him in the state of Pennsylvania, so we appealed 
to the postal authorities, and they stopped his mail, and thereby his busi¬ 
ness, under the postal fraud laws. Now, if there ever was a contemptible, 
dirty, mean business, it is that business which robs a man, and especially 
robs women and children, the widows and the orphans, of their money. 
If there ever was a mean business, that business is the business that robs 
men, women and children through get-rich-quick concerns. It is true that 
nobody really ought to, and no real sensible man, woman or child does, 
bite at such games, but there are plenty who do, and they are robbed 
right and left on all occasions. This Mining Congress has an interest in 
that matter from two standpoints—first, the protection of its own inter¬ 
ests and the interests of the members of this Congress; and second, be¬ 
cause it is right and decent and just. (Applause.) And therefore this 
Congress, I think, with due deference, should propose to the Legislatures 
of the various states such remedial legislation as will make as near impos¬ 
sible as such things can be made impossible the robbing of men and 
women and children and the estates of the dead by these harpies who feed 
upon their credulity. 

We have in California a law which was placed upon the statute books 
within the past few years. It is rather cumbersome, because it attempts 
to say too much, and we have found by experience that a law which 
attempts to say too much is so full of loop-holes that the lawyers, God 
bless them, are able to do all kinds of things with it. Now, experience 
has taught me—although I am neither a lawyer nor the son of a lawyer; 
when I am out of politics and decent I am just a plain, every-day doctor, 
and now I happen to be governor for a little v.diile longer—but experience 
has taught me that the plainer and more explicit, so to speak, we get ihe 
laws on the Statute books, the more effective they are. The committee— 
and I will not say exactly who this committee was that drew and put into 
the hands of the chairman of the committee the proposed law which has 
been handed around to you in the form of slips—the committee report is 
before you, but with your permission and the permission of him who 
drew the report and placed it in the hands of the chairman, I would like 
to propose an amendment to that which, in my judgment, will simplify 
it quite a little. 

In the first place, according to the constitution of the state of Califor¬ 
nia, an act must embody in its title all that is in the act. Whether that 
applies to the constitutions of other states, I don’t know, but in the state 
of California the title of this act as proposed to the committee and pre¬ 
sented by the committee to this Congress would be defective. Now, if 
you will follow along in a general way the slips you have in your hands, 
with the act and the title as I have proposed it for substitution, you will 
see wherein I have changed it. It is only in the arrangement of the law— 
in the verbiage. (Reads sections 1, 2 and 3 of said proposed act.) Now, 
you will notice that this does not apply to mining shares, stocks, bonds 
or property alone, but to all property, and the reason for that is that it 
would be a very close constitutional question, in the state of California at 


56 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


least, whether the matter could be confined entirely to mining ventures 
and mining property. You will notice also that it refers to the stocks, 
bonds or property or any portion thereof. Take our friend from Phila¬ 
delphia, whose case I illustrated and stated a few minutes ago. They 
had, or said they had, a number of properties. If that were left out, “any 
portion thereof,” they could put one ])ortion of the property in one ven¬ 
ture and another portion in another and thereby juggle the thing into such 
shape that it would be difficult to inflict even a proper punishment. The 
matter, ladies and gentlemen, is* of serious import to this Congress. We 
may say, if we please, that we can not protect all of the fools all the 
time, but we can protect some of the fools all of the time. (Applause.) 
And it is our duty, I submit, as peaceful and law-abiding and God-fearing 
citizens, to do what we can along the lines in which we are more or less 
expert to save the omnipresent fool or as many of them as we can from 
the destruction which his own acts may bring upon his head and the 
head of his family and his women folk. I move the adoption of the 
report of the committee. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Have there been any prosecutions in 
California under that law? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: No; they all hailed from other states. They 
have been beyond our reach. (Laughter.) 

A DELEGATE: Do you remember the prosecution in our town? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: Oh, yes, we have had one in jail. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Where the words ‘‘any person publishing” 
are used, does that refer to newspapers? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: Any way. They may publish by notices, or 
in the newspapers, or in magazines, or by word of mouth. In any way 
whatsoever. It,is a very stringent law and will capture anybody who 
willfully and maliciously misrepresents the facts. /Of course if a man 
were in good faith and should lie in good faith about the property, why, 
the courts, of course, could not convict him. (Laughter.) 

MR. PARKER OF COLORADO: I would suggest that it would not 
be a bad idea, where the maximum penalty is stated, to also fix a mini¬ 
mum limit. To put one in jail for three or fom: days for a felony of this 
kind would be a very slight punishment. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: I would suggest that no law can be enforced 
unless public opinion is behind it, and if you have a minimum of five 
years, juries and courts will very frequently stop and clear a person, be¬ 
cause the minimum, in the opinion of the court and jury, is higher than 
the crime deserves. If public opinion demands that they shall get ten 
years, they will get it, and if it does not demand that they shall get a 
proper and adequate punishment, no law you can pass will send them to 
jail. It is a question of public opinion putting into the hands of the 
court the means by which these punishments may be meted out. After 
all, it is a question of public opinion, and your laws are absolutely void 
unless you have public opinion behind them. 

MR. WIRE OF ILLINOIS: I would like to ask the governor if, in 
his judgment, this proposed law covers false signatures, such as men 
signing themselves as expert miners or mining engineers or civil engi¬ 
neers, etc. ' 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: By all means, for they are there maliciously 
and wilfully saying something that is false. 

MR. PECK OP COLORADO: I would like to ask the governor if he 
contemplates this law will cover the publication of paid ads. by the news¬ 
papers. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: No. And for this reason, that if that were 
the case, you could never secure the passage of such an act by any Leg¬ 
islature in the United States. Such ought to be the law, and no newspa- 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


57- 


pers should be permitted to publish such ads., but legislators, senator 
(referring to Senator Josephs of Utah), are human. Some of them are 
inhuman. But the newspaper attacks, under such circumstances, and 
the newspaper influence would be so great that I, with my practical ex¬ 
perience, very much doubt that you could secure the passage of such an 
act by any Legislature in the United States. 

MR. A. C. .JACKSON OF MAINE: On behalf of the state of Maine, I 
would like the privilege of seconding the motion of Governor Pardee. I 
am quite certain that many of you are familiar with the fact that there 
are many millions of New England capital invested in mining enterprises 
in the West, and it would certainly be very gratifying to a great many 
people to have the Congress act favorably upon this motion. I might say 
on behalf of the new’spaper men to whom the governor has referred chat 
it is manifestly impossible for newspapers or newspaper editors to know 
of the real character of all of the enterprises which they advertise. That 
is absolutely impossible. But such an act as is here proposed would be 
highly beneficial to mining interests throughout the country. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I would like to state to Governor Pardee 
that probably Utah may be called upon to make requisition upon the gov¬ 
ernors of other states. Our state is aloof from any promoters who have 
used ulterior methods or have been prompted by ulterior motives in the 
promotion of mining enterprises, but our governor, Hon, John C. Cutler, 
has given voice to the sentiments of the state, and, I believe, is in hearty 
accord with the bill proposed by Governor Pardee, 

THE PRESIDENT: Are there any further remarks? 

MR. EDWARDS OF NEW MEXICO: I would like to ask for informa¬ 
tion; that is, as to what steps the Congress could take to bring this pro¬ 
posed law to the attention of legislators in the easern states. It is in those 
states that the crimes complained of are more frequently committed. 
We have got our eye teeth cut to some extent in the West, and it is 
rather in the New England states and over in that country that this law 
requires to be brought to their attention. I think as a rule here in the 
West we are working very hard for our living, and we haven’t much 
money, even when we are actually engaged in the industry of mining. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: There are several ways in which that could 
be done. It could be taken up by the delegates from the various states 
who are here present or accredited to this Congress. It could be taken 
beforp the Legislatures of the various states, or taken before the gover¬ 
nors of the various states, and also, Mr, President, the officials of this 
organization could have a very great weight and influence with the various 
legislative bodies, and especially with the chief executives of the states 
and territories of this Union. (Applause.) I remember very well the 
quick and prompt responses which I have had as President of the Irriga¬ 
tion Congress on addressing'the various governors of the states and ter¬ 
ritories of the Union. The response was quick and certain in all cases, to 
the letters of inquiry and of information which I sent to the governors 
of the states and territories. Even in those states and territories where 
they had no notion on earth of irrigation and did not care a rap for any 
kind of irrigation—except internal irrigation—the response was always 
hearty and they were very willing and very glad to help out the Irrigation 
Congress in the great work which it was doing. And I am told that the 
same is true in the case of the Trans-Mississippi Congress. An appeal 
from the officers of this Congress to the governors of the states and ter¬ 
ritories -would go a long way towards solving this trouble. Not merely 
one appeal, because I know how governors aie beset with all kinds of 
literature, but one appeal followed up by another appeal would soon pro¬ 
duce a state of affairs which would lead to the recommendation by the 
governors of the various states and territories to their Legislatures that 
such legislation as this be adopted, and it would not be long before state 
after state would fall into line and in a very few years this or similar 


•58 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


legislation would prevail throughout the Union. It is simply a question 
of hammering. 

MR. R, L. HERRICK OF PENNSYLVANIA; I would like to ask 
your excellency if this proposed law would operate to cut out a certain 
abuse which is probably well known to every one here. Speaking from 
the standpoint of Pennsylvania, and also from that of a mining engineer, 
I know well both sides of the case, the investor’s standpoint and the mine 
owner’s and prospector’s standpoint, and it is my observation that the 
damage has been done in the East before any remedy has been applied. 
As a case in point, I will call your attention to a well-known scoundrel 
by the name of Letson Balliet, who, about five years ago, operated in 
Baker City, Oregon, in promoting the “White Swan mine." He went on 
the assumption that the way to make money in mining was to advertise 
in a wholesale manner in eastern papers. He had an advertising agent, 
well paid, in every large city of the East, and he would send out broad¬ 
sides of advertising, and in a very short time, about a year’s time, if I 
am not mistaken, he was supposed to have accumulated about $350,000, 
and not until that amount of damage had been done was the case brought 
to the attention of the postal authorities. Now, I w^ould like to ask your 
excellency if this law will not work so that if any one suspects that a 
fraud of this kind is being worked, it can be brought to the attention of 
the authorities at once and the corruption choked off at the source rather 
than after the damage has been done. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: Not very well. You can’t send a man to 
jail until he has committed some offense against the law. If he contem¬ 
plates it and does not commit it, he is still innocent of any crime. I 
think, however, if you will put one or two like your fellow citizen from 
Philadelphia—I remember the case very well—and our fellow citizen of 
California, Mr. George W. Rumble, who is in jail—if we will put a lot of 
those fellows in jail around in the various states of the Union, they will 
not, in the vernacular of the day, be so gay as they have been. 

MR. PATRICK OF OHIO: It seems to me there could be a state 
officer, say a state mining engineer, in these western states through 
whose hands the incorporation of every mining enterprise should pass, 
and whose approval would stamp it in the East as worthy of patronage by 
capital. That could be abused in many cases. For instance, we have 
recently had two prominent men arrested in Columbus, Ohio, indicted by 
a United State grand jury, but who escaped punishment by their ability 
to go out and say to their stockholders: “You will lose everything if we 
are prosecuted to the end, but if we are allowed to go free you will ‘prob¬ 
ably get something out of the wreck.” Now, that was none other than the 
Jesse mine down in Arizona. It was a good mine, I guess, but $275,000 
had been taken out of Chillicothe and Circleville and sent down there for 
the development of the Jesse mine, which was used by the officers in de¬ 
veloping a mine owned individually. I tell you we have one hundred and 
forty mining properties used in Columbus to-day trying to raise money to 
come here to the West. Some of them are legitimate and some of them 
are not. Now, it seems to me that if the states mining precious metal 
had a state engineer whose approval must be secured in the promotion 
of these enterprises, it would help us a great deal in putting our money 
in these western mines. 

MR. R. L. HERRICK OF PENNSYLVANIA: In heartily seconding 
the gentleman from Ohio, I would like to state that I have an amendment 
I would like to offer at this time. At present it is in the hands of the 
stenographer. With your permission I will go and get it. It follows out 
the lines suggested by our friend. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: I would suggest, however, in line with that, 
that a mining company may be incorporated in New Jersey to do business 
in the state of California, under its present constitution at any rate, and 
I do not think that any remedy would be possible along the lines’ sug- 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


o'J 


gested by the gentleman from Ohio. How it is in other states I do not 
know. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: I simply desire to ask for further 
information along the line the governor has spoken upon. Would it not 
be possible for a company to be incorporated in New Jersey at any time 
and circulate literature from that point and not in any way be amenable 
to the laws of California or the laws of Missouri? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: No doubt. That is why we want this bill 
passed by every state. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: This law, if I interpret it correctly, 
will not be effective unless every state in the Union enacts such a law. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: Not absolutely effective, but the more states, 
of course, that it is passed in, the fewer the nests there will be for such 
birds to sit in. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Personally, I believe that if the iaw 
were passed by forty out of the forty-five states, it would only be a very 
short time before the promoters, following the example of so many of the 
corporations of the United States, will incorporate under the laws of the 
state of New Jersey. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: That is just the point, doctor. It is not 
where they are incorporated. That comes in the amendment that is going 
to be offered here. But it is where the man is when he makes that state¬ 
ment. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Well, he will issue all his literature 
from New Jersey. 

* 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: But if it be in California, we will grab him 
there, under this law. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Under this law, if he goes to Cali¬ 
fornia and operates under any of his literature which has preceded him, 
he is amenable to this law is he? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: Yes. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: I am glad that such is the case, but 
I do not understand the interpretatiton of the law which would make him 
amenable to it. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: Because he would- undoubtedly make bis 
statements in the state of California. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: If he made his statements there in 
addition, then he would be amenable. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: He absolutely would. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF LISSOURI: If that is the case I am sure he 
would be apt to go to the penitentiary from California. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: For instance, if we had this law passed in 
Pennsylvania, we would have gotten those people that have been men¬ 
tioned as operating there,- because they were issuing their statements in 
Pennsylvania. If he had ever come out to California and made his state¬ 
ments there and this law had been on our statute books, we would have 
gotten him there. We got Mr. Rumble there because he had his head¬ 
quarters in the state of California. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Under the administration of our 
state at this time it would not be difficult to pass a law of this character. 

MR. HEIZER OF COLORADO: I would like to ask the governor if • 
he regards this act as strong enough to catch the ordinary cheerful liar. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: No; I am afraid to say how many of us 
would be in jail if it did. (Laughter.) 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


(lU 


MR. WIRE OF ILLINOIS: I'believe this is the most important leg¬ 
islation to be considered at this Congress, and I believe it is as important 
as any that we will be called upon to consider. It is certainly the most 
popular legislation with the people of the East, and I am glad that this 
splendid committee, composed of eight or nine of the leading men of tne 
country who have given this matter serious consideration, have framed 
us a law that is free from technicalities, that is clear-cut and will cover 
nearly every case, or every case as we see it. There is one thing, how¬ 
ever, that I think ought to be incorporated therein, and I submit this to 
your judgment. It seems to me there might, with advantage, be some¬ 
thing incorporated in the law to the effect that each state where the prop¬ 
erties are located should have either a commission, or, as suggested by 
the gentleman from Ohio, some one state official, or, preferably, three 
state officials of a state commission, who would have knowledge of and 
who could take cognizance of these properties that are being promoted 
and would report upon their exact physical condition and make recom¬ 
mendations or make comments, at least, upon the property in the district, 
so that the public in the East would know approximately the true condi¬ 
tions as they exist regarding the property and the surroundings. It seems 
to me there ought to be something of this kind. I do not find it in this 
law, but this law is so good and so splendid that is may not be necessary, 
but I just ask the question of the governor if, in his judgment, it would 
not be better to have something of that kind as an additional protection, 
as an additional assurance and insurance to the investor of the East that 
the property is as represented. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: If it were the duty of such an official or 
such a commission to examine every property, whether such examination 
were asked for or not, you would have, in the state of California, work for 
an army of men. I presume the same applies with greater force to the 
state of Colorado, from the gopher holes I have seen along here, the great 
number of prospects and things of that kind. The law in the state of Cali¬ 
fornia is such that the state mineralogist can, if his opinion be asked for, 
send a deputy to examine such a property and report upon it. That was 
done in the case of the Clover Creek swindle; it was done‘in the case of 
the Rumble swindle, and in a number of other cases that I do not have in 
mind at this moment. ' 

MR. WIRE OF ILLINOIS: I accept the explanation. I believe the 
law is the best that could be drafted, and I believe this Congress ought 
to pass it. I believe that if a man wilfully or knowingly publishes or 
causes to be published anything that is untrue or materially untrue or 
not in accordance with the facts, for the purpose of defrauding the pub¬ 
lic, ought to be severely punished, and if this is done I believe that the 
western properties in every state and in British Columbia and Mexico 
would find it ten times as easy to raise money as it is now, and this, in 
Kiy judgment, and as far as I have been able to learn is the most popular 
and valuable legislation that has been proposed by the American Mining 
Congress. In Chicago and other places it is observed that this Congress 
is now getting down to business; it is touching the people of the East, 
and I hope this proposed law will pass without change. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is now a quarter to 12, and I suggest 
that we take a recess until 2 o’clock. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: If there are any gentlemen who wish to 
speak on the adoption of the report I will gladly, with the consent of my 
second, withdraw the motion until this afternoon, with the understanding 
that I will present it again. 

MR. RITER OF UTAH: If it is in order, I would like to read a mo¬ 
tion. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The motion will be handed to the Secre¬ 
tary and read by him. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


61 


THE SECRETARY: Mr. John R. Lewis, president of the Colorado 
State Association, desires the floor for a couple of minutes. 

Mr. Lewis then took the floor and extended an invitation to the mem¬ 
bers of the Congress to attend the sessions of the Colorado State Commer¬ 
cial Association convention at Port Collins, Colorado, on the 24th 2oth 
and 26th insts. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Secretary has some announcements 
. to make. 

A resolution offered by Mr. George W. Riter or Utah asking 
for legislation doing away with extra lateral rights in future mining 
titles was read by the Secretary and referred to the committee on reso¬ 
lutions. 

THE SECRETARY: The President announces the committee on 
ways and means, which was provided for by resolution, as follows: 

Mr. John Dern of Utah, Mr. P. Wallace White of Ohio, Col. George W. 
E. Dorsey of Nebraska, Judge E. A, Colburn of Denver, Col. Thomas Ewing 
of Arizona. 

A recess was thereupon taken until 2 o’clock p. m. 


2 O’CLOCK P. M. 

Second Vice-President Buckley in the chair. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The Congress will please be in or¬ 
der. 

Gentlemen, what will you do with the report of the committee on fraud 
legislation? 

GOVERNOR PARDEE OP CALIPORNIA; I renew my motion for 
the adoption of the report of the committee. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: It is moved and seconded that the 
report of the committee on frahd legislation be adopted. Are there any 
further remarks? 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: 1 have an amendment to introduce at 
this time, and at the proper time desire to be heard upon it. I move you, 
Mr. President, that section 2 be replaced by another section 2, and that 
the present section 2 be called section 3. (Reads.) 

“Sec. 2. Any book, notice, report, statement, exhibit or other publi¬ 
cation of or concerning the affairs, financial condition or property of any 
corporation, joint stock association, co-partnership or individual, issued 
for the purpose of selling stock, shares or bonds, shall be accompanied 
by a note duly signed and acknowledged by a competent officer of juris¬ 
diction.” 

I move the adoption of the amendment. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The motion is made and seconded 
that the report be amended by substituting the section as read for section 
2, and that section 2 of the report be called section 3. Are there any re¬ 
marks upon the amendment? 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: In support of my motion, I desire to 
read what is generally accepted as one of the most reputable newspapers 
in the United States: 

(Mr. Josephs here read a number of advertisements of mining en¬ 
terprises from various papers throughout the country.) 

And so it goes, Mr. President and gentlemen of the Congress. It 
seems to me that we can not throw too rigid a. safeguard around the in¬ 
vestors. As his excellency, the governor of California, stated a little 
while ago, California seems to have taken the lead in this. Now, it is well 
for us to follow in that lead and appreciate that leadership, and while we 
are here to adopt such resolutions, which will be scattered broadcast 



62 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


throughout the United States and will finally result in placing upon the 
statute books of every state in the Union laws similar in tenor to those of 
California. 

MR. F. WALLACE WHITE OF OHIO: I would like to say a few 
words in opposition to the senator’s motion. As to what the governor says 
in regard to the law, we can not shorten it too much. Make it short and 
to the point. Furthermore, I don’t know whether the senator is aware of 
it or not, but I think I am right in stating that an affidavit or oath made 
as an affidavit, but which is false, is not a criminal offense in many of 
our states, perhaps not in any, and hence the taking of an oath would not 
help the matter any as the senator has put his amendment. Besides, the 
class of men who get up that literature and advertisements can get all 
kinds of oaths and all kinds of men to take oaths, and I do not believe it 
will help the matter any. I believe that, as the governor has put the law, 
and as that motion is before the house, we have in it all that we need, 
and I do not believe this amendment should prevail. I believe the original 
motion should stand as made by the governor of California. 

MR. E. A. SPERRY OF COLORADO: I think if we take this question 
up in its full scope, the ramifications of the thing would carry us into a 
very cumbersome law. There is one point I want to make, and that is 
this: It may be very true that by means of bogus statements, misstate¬ 
ments and misrepresentations the people of the East who are not ac¬ 
quainted so thoroughly with the conditions of mining as those in the West 
might be led into very foolish investments. There is another point which 
might come up for serious consideration, which it seems to me is equally 
as vital in connection with this question, and that is this: Suppose, now, 
that some company starts out and it is popularly known that they do have 
good properties, that the statements they make in their advertisements 
and their representations can be borne out by actual examination. The 
fact that they are able to substantiate the statements they make is one 
point; the statement that they can not substantiate their statements 
is another poin. Now, le us follow this through to its logical 

conclusion. I know of companies—and I am satisfied there are 
a great many within the hearing of my voice who know 

companies under the same condition, that have good properties. 
They take their stock east and sell it. I have seen thousands and thous¬ 
ands of shares sold to waiter girls, to porters, to all of the lower classes 
In the East. They are not capable of telling whether they are getting a 
good investment or not, but they will put their dollars in. Now, what do 
they do? They go to work on their property. They don’t put that money 
into their property as they should. They don’t go to work and make a 

legitimate development of this property. They put that money into the 

property in such a way that they know what the results are, but no one 
else, and if anyone wants to examine that property it is a very natural 
conclusion that they see nothing has been done to develop the propevty, 
no values shown, and as a consequence these fellows are frozen out. 
Now, what is the result? Now, the money that they get from these 
small investors in the East, I don’t mean to say but what it is by fraud¬ 
ulent means, but at the same time they have property that is worth 
something and that they can develop and show to be valuable, but at the 
same time they don’t do it. They freeze these other people out, and in 
consequence they lose their investment. Now, if this law only touenes 
the point where fraudulent misrepresentation is made, it does not touch 
the point entirely. The point should be that they should act in good faith 
toward these investors. They should act in good faith towards these par¬ 
ties that have put in their money even on a truthful representation. Now, 
if we^ are going to go into the ramifications of this thing, why not take 
up this very subject itself? You and I and all of us know that there are men 
in this state and the state of Utah—the senator says they are not there, 
but I think they are—but in Utah, California and Nevada or in any of the 
mining states you can mention there are men who are trying to promote 
the very schemes which develop property of value in such a way that they 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


68 


do not have to put their money into them, they get these small investors 
to put it in and then freeze them out. They do not act in good faith. 
While they have not misrepresented nor shown one item of fraudulent mis¬ 
representation in this matter, still at the same time their acts are such as 
will accomplish the same end, by freezing these people out and taking 
their money from them. Why not go into this point now? 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: A few years ago the stock of quite a 
prominent industrial institution was put upon the market, in which a great 
many servant girls, boot blacks, chambermaids and people in the hum¬ 
bler walks of life put in a great deal of money. The stock declined. 
Would the gentleman undertake to have that matter covered as well? 

MR. SPERRY: If you are going to cover anything, you might as 
well cover everything. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: In my opinion, the report of the 
committee will not in any way benefit the situation. It will simply add to 
the confusion. We now have plenty of laws to punish fraud, plenty of 
laws to punish obtaining money under false pretenses. The difficulty is 
to prove—to convict. A gentleman representing Pennsylvania, I think— 
at least he spoke of Philadelphia—spoke this morning of a somewhat no¬ 
torious promoter by the name of Balliet. He forgot to tell you that under 
the laws of Iowa, which are practically the same as far as fraud and false 
pretense are concerned, as those of Colorado, Balliet was convicted and 
sent to prison. The trouble, however, in my opinion, Mr. President and 
ladies and gentlemen, is not with the occasional promoter; the trouble is 
with the whole system of mining promotion, and that it is based upon 
fraud and deception. And in what I say I wish to apologize in advance, 
if it is necessary, for anything that may appeaj' harsh or in any w^ay per¬ 
sonal, and whatever I may say in condemnation of mining promotion 
methods applies to myself with the same force as it applies to anyone. 
I have been busy for ten years past shoveling the mud from my own door¬ 
step, and have not had time until recently to see whether my neighbors 
needed dusting or not. The great difficulty, in my opinion, lies in the fact 
that we capitalize our hopes and not our property. (Applause.) So far 
as that is concerned, there is no wrong. The trouble lies in the fact that 
we sell that capital, based upon our hopes, to eastern investors, and, as this 
gentleman has said, instead of putting the money into the ground to de¬ 
velop that property we put it into our pockets, and that is where the 
eastern investor is defrauded, and that, sir, is one of the principal things 
that need correction. My friend from Utah has read some advertise¬ 
ments. It brought to my mind a comment that I read recently in a very 
prominent mining paper of a mining corporation which was highly com¬ 
mended because the promoters took only two-fifths of the entire capital 
stock. That left three fifths for the eastern investor. I only know, 
ladies and gentlemen, of but one way of correcting fraud and deceit. It 
seems to me that if the states where the mining properties are located will 
enact proper laws, we need not care whether the eastern states, the home 
of the eastern investor, do anything in the matter or not. It seems to me 
that the one thing that should be required and compelled is absolute and 
entire publicity of all the affairs of any mining corporation (applause), and 
I mean to interject here that it applies equally to all promoters. We talk 
of mining promoters and laws to protect the mining investor here because 
we are a mining congress, but we are not the only guilty promoters on 
earth by any means. They have them down east where our eastern mining 
, investor comes from. 

Another fiction that is deceptive, and, in my opinion, fraudulent, is a 
point that was emphasized somewhat by my friend from Utah in reading 
the advertisements that he read. He read to you, “Capital, so and so; 
stock fully paid.” I want to say that I honestly believe that of the stock 
sold by mining companies in the state of Colorado there is not one share 
out of* a hundred that is honestly and fairly fully paid. It is a decep¬ 
tion and a fraud, and it is against the laws of Colorado, permitted only 


64 


OFFICIAT. PROCEEDINGS 


b6caiis6 tliGre is no one to* enforce that law, and there is no single inteiest 
large enough to enforce it where there is any occasion for it. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I grant that the same condition exists in 
Utah. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: I speak only of Colorado, because 
Colorado and Colorado laws are all I have any acquaintance with, 3,nd i 
will ask any attorneys present, if I misstate or misunderstand anything in 
regard to the Colorado laws, that they do not hesitate to correct me. I 
am going to make an extreme example, for there are extremes in our 
advertising and in our mining promotions. I go out and locate a mining 
claim. Possibly I locate a group of five. It may cost me, altogether, 
three or four hundred dollars for the entire location work. I organize a 
company with a capital of at least one million fdiares we don’t very often 
deal in less than millions—and I pay myself, as the company, as the pro¬ 
moter, one million dollars for these five claims that cost me three or four 
hundred dollars, and then, in the generosity of my heart, I give back to 
the company sometimes one-tenth, and on this occasion that I spoke of a 
few minutes ago it chanced that we gave back three-fifths. Then we go 
along and sell the stock. Are we always careful to protect the inter¬ 
ests of the company in selling that stock? I do not believe I need to an¬ 
swer that question. As the gentleman back here said, we are in a posi¬ 
tion to know in advance whether that stock has any real value or not, 
and if it chances that the money we have put in to develop it shows that 
it is valueless, w^e are pretty apt to be out of stock ourselves, or pretty 
nearly out, and somebody else has got the promoter’s stock. Now, on 
the other hand, let me take an illustration that I read in the paper only 
a few days ago on successful promotion. A company was organized with 
one million shares, par value one dollar, full paid, of course, and in that 
case two-fifths were put in the treasury instead of three-fifths, 
and the promoter kept the three-fifths. Sixty-five thousand shares 
of the treasury stock were sold. I am speaking approximately and 
in round numbers only. When that sixty-five thousand shares were sold 
money enough had been raised and the property had been developed to 
such an extent that it was operating and paying well. The promoters 
held six hundred thousand shares of that stock, and the eastern investor— 
supposedly eastern—held sixty-five thousand shares. The stock is now, I 
believe, quoted in the neighborhood of seventy cents per share. Did the 
promoters of that company treat the eastern investor fairly when they ob¬ 
tained from him every dollar that developed that property and put 
$428,000 of actual value into their pockets? And that, ladies 
and gentlemen, is the reason the eastern investor is becoming sick of min¬ 
ing investments. When you run into that condition, when you compel 
what is known as the legitimate promoter to act honestly and legiti¬ 
mately with the eastern investor, take the same chances that the eastern 
investor takes, then we will have no difficulty in raising all the money we 
need to legitimately develop our mining properties. The prospector or 
the small mine owner who has received his education through the hard 
school of experience sometimes locates a property pretty w'ell up in the 
hills where it is pretty difficult to get to it. He knows where he wants to 
start and he knows where he wants to end, and perhaps blazes a tree 
down at the foot of the mountain and goes up to the claim and makes 
another mark, and he says to the engineer, “Here is where I want to start 
and there is where I want to get to. Survey a road for me and get it in shape 
so that I can get to my property and back. I think we all have a pretty 
definite idea of where we want to start in this matter of what is usually 
called fake or fraudulent promotion, and I think we all have a pretty good 
idea of where we want to end. Now, if there is any word that I can say 
that will interest the members of this Congress to such an extent that 
the competent engineers will take hold of the matter and survey that trail 
from our present unsatisfactory condition—unsatisfactory is mild—to the 
lofty point that we want to reach, or that this Congress at least, I believe, 
wants to reach, where there will be absolute honesty and fairness with 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


05 


the eastern investor, I shall have done all that I hope to. I am not compe¬ 
tent to go into the details, but it seems to me, as I said a little time ago, 
that if the states where the mining property is located will enact proper 
laws that will compel absolute publicity of every condition and affair 
connected with mining promotion, we need not care what the eastern 
states do. Our own laws here will then protect the eastern invesior. 
Colorado, and I suppose other mining states, has a law that prohibits any 
corporation from doing business in the state until it files certain papers 
with the state authorities and receives permission to do that business 
and to hold property. Now, I am not an attorney, and am not versed in 
legal lore, and possibly any and every suggestion I might make may be 
pronounced unconstitutional by those who know, but it seems to me that 
if Colorado will enact a law that will, before articles of incorporation are 
approved, or before permission is given for a foreign corporation to do 
business in the state, provide that that corporation shall file certain infor¬ 
mation with the state authorities, and compel them to give that same in¬ 
formation in their advertising matter, it will pretty nearly cover the mat¬ 
ter and protect the eastern investor. 

Now, I want to refer just a moment to a remark made by Governor 
Pardee this morning in which he said that he believed the legislation rec¬ 
ommended by the committee would protect some of the fools all the time. 
I am obliged to differ with the governor on that. I do not believe you can 
protect the fool by any legislation. But it is not the fool we look to to 
develop our mining property. \t^hile it is true, as has been said, that a 
great many of the younger and poorer classes of the East have invested 
in mining property, there are compete;it and thorough business men who 
have been deceived, at least, in the mining investments they have made 
—bankers, attorneys, physicians, etc.—thousands of them. 

So far as the matter of full paid stock is concerned, it seems to me 
that if it were made the duty of some public officer—giving him a part, 
perhaps, of any fines that may be recovered^—to prosecute any fraudulent 
advertisement of full paid stock, it would cure that evil, which is an evil 
unquestionably, and it seems to me that this law should require that any 
company asking to be incorporated under the laws of Colorado, or asking 
permission to do business within its borders should file with the Secretary 
of State the names of the persons who sold the property to the mining 
company and the amount that that property cost those persons. But I 
suppose my constitutional friends will tell me that that is unconstitu¬ 
tional. 

'GOVERNOR PARDEE: That is done. The county records will show 
that anyway. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Now, it may be that the next sug¬ 
gestion will be just as wise, and that is, that a company be prohibited 
from issuing its entire capital stock in payment for any property, and 
it certainly seems to me that it ought to be legal—and to many of us there 
are lots of things that seem as though they ought to be legal when they 
are not—to prohibit any corporation from giving its stock to anyone or 
from turning over to any promoters any portion of its stock on any other 
terms than those upon which it sells the same stock to other persons. 1 
believe, too, that it should be a felony for the officer of a company to sell 
his personal stock from the office of that company and by 'the machinery 
of that office. Perh'aps I am against another constitutional limitation. 
But it is a fact that in a great many of our Colorado corporations that 
thing is done. The eastern investor sends his money to an official of a 
company, expecting that he is buying treasury stock, and that his money 
is going into the treasury to develop the property of the comparv, while 
as a matter of fact he is buying the personal stock of some promoter. 
There ought to be some legal way to stop that if there is not, and if the 
constitution now permits it I trust the Mining Congress may invent some 
constitutional amendment that we can adopt and that will allow us to pro¬ 
vide something of that kind. As I said, however, at the outset, I do not 
pretend to be able to indicate the details of any needed legislation, it 


OFFICIAI. PROCP]EDlNC,S 


CO 


seems to me that what we should have, however, is prevention. My fiiend 
this morning asked if the law recommended by the committee would save 
the eastern investor his money, and the chairman of the committee had to 
say, “No, it will not.” Now, is there not ability enough in the Mining 
Congress and in the mining men of the West to devise some legislation 
that will save the eastern investor his money or at least- that will enable 
him to know the conditions under which he is investing it—to know the 
truth and the whole truth? 

MR. ELLIOTT OF COLORADO: In response to the gentleman who 
has so ably spoken, I wish to state that the laws of Colorado I am talk¬ 
ing from a legal standpoint at the present time—provide that the very 
statement that he suggests should be published annually by every corpo¬ 
ration, setting forth the condition of its affairs and setting forth all the 
financial conditions of that company, and if a company does not perform 
that act, every individual director of that company is personally respon¬ 
sible to every stockholder in it. That is the law of Colorado. I think that 
so far as the laws of Colorado in that respect go we have gotten to a point 
that covers all of the ground the gentlemen has been talking about. But 
there are other things this Congress should and can reach in regard to 
this matter. As Mr. Josephs' has stated, we must have something that 
will not foist upon the people of the East a lot of fraudulent literature and 
fraudulent men walking broadcast through the land and taking the hard- 
earned savings of the working people and putting them into fake mining 
enterprises. I believe there is a way to ^o this, and it can be done by the 
statutes of every state. And that is simply this—that if a man starts 
out with a mining proposition, let him say that he has a mine; if he 
starts out with a^ prospect, let him say that he has a prospect, and say to 
the easterner, “H you want to invest in a mine, invest in a mine, as an 
absolute certainty, like a government bond- R will pay you so much; we 
have the proceeds right here to pay you with. If you want to gamble 
on a prospect, gamble on a prospect and take your chances with the rest 
of us.” Let every advertisement of a speculative proposition state that it 
is only a big chance, possibly to win, but with a certain chance. The 
other way they may lose it all. Now, I think it can be absolutely com¬ 
pelled by statute that no advertisement of a fake mining proposition 
should come before the people unless it states directly upon the face of 
it that it is a prospect and not a mine. I think that will cover the ground, 
and I think this Congress will do it. 

MR. HERRICK OF PENNSYLVANIA: I want to thank the gentlemen 
for their remarks, on behalf of Pennsylvania. My idea is that the east¬ 
erner does not object to gambling with his money, but wants to know 
what chances,he is taking. He does object to the westerner getting his 
money and getting all the fun out of the gambling, and when he puts up 
his money he doesn’t want any such fun. We all have a different idea 
of what we want to do, and it seems to me that as long as there is a mo¬ 
tion before the house we should talk upon that motion and we will decide 
upon the law later. I have the resolution; it is intended to take the 
place of the amendment I announced this morning, and with the courtesy ' 
of- you gentlemen I want to present the standpoint of the eastern investor 
on this matter, and my other friends from the states of Ohio and Illinois 
will help me in presenting this matter to you. 

MR. R. B. SIGAFOOS OF COLORADO: Mr. President, 1 am probably 
the infant in this Congress—probably the youngest member. I ain now 
about three hours old. I came here with a grievance. I have rushed to 
get in. I am a mine operator in a small way; T am an investor in a large 
way, and I have been struggling to keep even with the game, and the end 
is not yet. Now, I am not opposing any resolutions, because I have at¬ 
tended only a part of two sessions, but I believe there is a solution to this 
question, down possibly to one point lacking, and that is to make the man 
who receives the money, the promoter, apply it as he represents it is to 
be applied. That far I believe I can solve it. The fact is that every mine 
owner has been a promoter, and every promoter has been a mine owner 


^AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


G7 


to some extent. At least he represents himself so. Now, the Mining Con¬ 
gress can establish a bureau at little expense, or a laboratory, in which it 
could employ two or three of the ablest engineers and analytical chem¬ 
ists,, and any man who has a legitimate mine to sell, if it is nothing but a 
little prospect, could take his maps and samples and everything to this 
laboratory, and he could say, “I have so much ground, so many claims, 
you classify me.” It may be classified as a prospect, or something a little 
better, and so on up to a mine, and if that man sells his property or stock 
it has got to pass that bureau of the Mining Congress. The public will 
understand in the East that if this man goes there his property has passed 
this examination and has been classified, and what he says goes. In my 
old business you couldn’t sell the smallest grocery store or meat shop 
fire protection if you were not on the list. You can secure this protection 
—and no additional laws are needed—by establishing a bureau of infor¬ 
mation backed by this Mining Congress and the mining industry. 

MR. SPERRY OF COLORADO: I do not want the impression to rest 
■ in the mind of any of you that I am opposed to any legislation or to some 
legislation in regard to the regulation of the promotion of mining projects 
in this or any other state. My point is this: While the report as made 
by the committee covers one point which I think is very essential, I think 
that if we begin on that reiDort ,and begin to tack on amendments here 
and there, and in another place, substituting this for that, and all sorts 
of changes, we will soon get a law which will be altogether too cumber¬ 
some for us to hope to have considered by any Legislature. I think the 
report of the committee as it stands now will cover the one point which it 
is intended to cover. It will cover the point of misrepresentation; it will 
cover the point of the fraudulent misrepresentation of values, which I 
think is a great big point. But at the same time, if we wish to take this 
thing up in its entirety then we have other points to consider as well as 
this one point. The honorable senator from Utah asked me a question— 
that if anyone should invest in the stock of some certain company and 
the stock of that company should decline in value, would the seller of that 
stock be amenable to the law? Why, that is ridiculous. The point is this 
—that on an honest representation, an honest advertisement of a mining 
project, there it is all -right to make those representations: but the mo¬ 
ment we begin to foster the misrepresentations that we see glaring in 
every paper we take up, the senator’s papers included, then we have got 
to correct that at some time. Now, we can not frame a law which is 
going to cover all points, but I say, let the matter rest as it is, to cover 
the essential points, and then the other matters will come out of this. 
Let us not fack any more amendments onto this thing, because it is 
terse and to the point. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I think this discussion has 
taken a very wide range. We have other business besides this. My friend 
from Denver has told us all about the fire extinguisher business, which is 
not germane to the subject. Before moving the previous question, as 1 
propose to do, I will leave it to Governor Pardee to'close the debate. 

GOVERNOR PARDEE: It seems to me it has been well said that 
the Congress, and you, too, Mr. President, have been very lenient and 
very good in allowing the debate which has been had on the report of the 
committee to take as wide and as great excursions as it has taken. The 
word theology was never used during the debate, but some of the remarks 
by our good friend from Denver bordered on theology, because it struck 
at the root of the whole human evil, if we may so speak, and that is legis¬ 
lating into the average human being a modicum of honesty. With all due 
respect and regard for that sentiment, I do not believe it can be done. 

I do not believe that if we passed all the laws of the decalogue by the 
legislature of all the states and territories we would have any better aver-^ 
age of human honesty than we have now. The best we can do is to make 
some sort of an approach toward making the business of the dishonest 
promoter—not the honest promoter—so onerous and risky and so costly in 
the way of fines and imprisonment, etc., that it does not pay to indulge in 


68 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


it. Now and then, of course, even the professional men of whom our friend 
spoke with such extreme unction—and I am one of them, because when I 
am at home and not in politics or public office I am a professional man 
a doctor—and I want to say—I speak of no others—that they are the biggest 
fools on the face of the earth when it comes to investing money—with the 
exception, perhaps, of the promoter. Now, I would not try, because 1 
know it is a physical and absolute impossibility, to legislate common 
honesty and common decency into the mind of the man who does not 
want to be commonly honest and commonly decent, but if we can hold up 
to him the fear of imprisonment or the fear of fines, ‘or both, and make 
him realize that he is running too much risk when he does these foolish 
things we will have gone a long way toward keeping some of the fools 
from being imposed upon all the time. 

Now, as for the oath, I also thought before I ran up against the Su¬ 
preme Court of the State of California, and also the Supreme Court of the 
United States, in an official, not in a private way, that any man who 
made an oath before an officer empowered to administer that oath, if that 
oath was false, committed perjury. Such, hov/ever, is not the fact. A man 
may solemnly raise his hand and take oath that things in the affidavit 
which he is making are true when they are false, and unless they are ma¬ 
terial to the subject matter under investigation by the court, such false 
oath is not perjury. Therefore you could convict nobody if you had this 
in your law. Such affidavits could be so worded that they would be innocu¬ 
ous and produce no ill effect except the ill effect that because they are 
oaths and given under the form of oaths there would be more of our fool 
friends who would invest in the stock which was thus fraudulently misrep¬ 
resented. So with all due respect to our good friend, the senator from 
Utah, I am disposed to think that the fewer flumididdles and trimmings 
and laces we get around these things the better off we will be. Let us hit 
right straight at the point and say what we mean. (Applause.) What is the 
use? If a man commits a crime, put him' in jail; and if he commits an¬ 
other one, put him in jail, again. He is going to get tired of it before you 
will. You can not fix the thing so that nobody is going to be a fool, but 
you can fix it so that everybody won’t be fooled all the time, and that is 
about all'we can hope to gain. Now, there are laws against fraud and 
against embezzlement and against all kind of things, but there has not 
been in the state of California—and it has been pretty well lawed and 
pretty well legislated, and pretty well governed for a number of years 
(laughter and applause)—there has not been in the last four years a law 
upon the statute books of the state of California which fitted this case 
until the present law that is now in effect in California was put upon the 
statute books, and this report of the committee is not very bad, but it is 
along the general lines of the California law, and with all due deference 
to these gentlemen who want to get the thing perfect, let me say to them 
that they can not do it, because they are human and nothing human ever 
was perfect. A half loaf is a heap sight better than no bread, so let us 
take the half loaf and be sure that the thing is what we want, and I am 
very certain that the report of this committee, so far as it goes, is what 
we want, but if we commence to load it up with all kinds of extraneous 
matter we will run up against the courts and public opinion, and public 
^ opinion is more powerful than the courts, and the first thing we know we 
have done nothing. (Applause.) 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Realizing from the remarks of his ex¬ 
cellency, the governor of California, that the foolish may become foolisher 
by reason of the attachment of the oath, I desire to withdraw my amend¬ 
ment, with the consent of my second, and to move the previous Question 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: A motion has been made and sec¬ 
onded to consider the previous question. It is not debatable. The pre¬ 
vious question is upon the amendment submitted by Mr. Josephs. 

A MEMBER: No, that has been withdrawn. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


69 


VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The amendment has been with¬ 
drawn by consent of the second, and the, motion is now upon the adoption 
of the report of the committee, of which Governor Pardee of California 
is chairman. 

A MEMBER: Has the report been read to the Congress? 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The report has been under discus¬ 
sion since the beginning of the session this forenoon. The previous ques¬ 
tion has been moved. All those in favor of the previous question will sig¬ 
nify by saying “Aye.” Opposed, “No.” 

The motion was carried unanimously and so declared by the chairman. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The question is now on the adop¬ 
tion of the rfeport of the committee. Those in favor of the adoption of 
this report will so signify by saying “Aye.” Opposed, “No.” 

The motion was carried unanimously and so declared by the chairman. 
(Applause.) 

MR. HEI^RICK OF PENNSYLVANIA: I announced this morning 
that I had an amendment to offer to the resolution of Governor Pardee, 
but he suggested that I offer it as a resolution, and I would respectfully , 
submit it, not in finished form, but with the intention that it shall draw 
out discussion and it shall show^the sentiment of the people of Pennsyl¬ 
vania, whom I have the honor to represent, and as far as I could before 
leaving I was careful to ascertain that sentim.ent. I find I have a number 
of constituents behind me in this motion, and I will ask the Secretary to 
read it before going any further. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: There are several resolutions before 
the Congress, and I will ask the Secretary to read these resolutions at 
this time, including the one by Mr. Herrick of Pennsylvania. 

Resolution by Mr. R. L. Herrick of Pennsylvania. 

Resolved, That as a check against fraudulent mining promotions, that 
a copy of each prospectus soliciting the purchase of mining stock should 
be submitted to the commissioner of mines, or the equivalent authority of 
the particular state in which the mining property is situated, for the pur¬ 
pose of its being examined and endorsed by the respective authorities. 

When the state has not already organized the proper in¬ 
spection service, it is recommended that the respective Legislatures ap¬ 
point an officer or establish a bureau duly qualified to carry out this in- 
-spection service. 

The work of the inspection service should be limited to a verification 
as relating to the holdings of the company, their development and the 
details of its corporate organization. 

It is clearly understood that this is not intended as an encroachment 
on the province of the mining engineer in determining the existence and 
value of possible ore deposits, and the proper method of their exploitation. 

Resolution offered by Hon. A. W. McIntyre of Washington. 

Whereas, A national and international exposition will be held in the 
city of Seattle, Washington, between the first day of June and the 15th 
day of October, 1909; 

Whereas, The primary purpose of said exposition is to make known to 
the world the resources and potentialities of the Alaska and Yukon terri¬ 
tories in the United States and the dominion of Canada ,and to demon¬ 
strate the vast and constantly increasing importance of the commerce of 
the Pacific ocean and of the countries bordering upon it; 

Whereas, The Alaska and Yukon territories are rich in resources now 
practically unknown, which, jf developed, would add materially to the 
comfort of man and add many hundreds of thousands of square miles to 
the habitable areas of the earth; while the Pacific ocean and the lands 
bordering upon it offer a field for trade development the equal of which 
is not to be found in any other part of the world; 

Whereas, Said exposition will be beneficial not only to the state of 
Washington, but to all other states of the American Union in that then 


70 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


manufacturers and producers will have opened up to them many coun¬ 
tries in which to sell the products of the factories and the farms; 

Whereas, The countries in the Pacific are constantly seeking closer 
trade relations with the United States. New Zealand has. taken the lead 
in this matter, and declared, through the recent speech from the throne 
of Baron Plunkett, its governor, that the promotion of trade between New 
Zealand and the United States would be one of the policies of the pres¬ 
ent session of parliament; 

Whereas, No exposition has ever been held in the United States which 
has had for one of its main purposes .the upbuilding ofi trade in the Pa¬ 
cific; 

Therefore, be it resolved. That the American Mining Congress does 
hereby commend the aims and purposes of the Alaskan-Yukon-Pacific Ex¬ 
position and recommend that the government of the United States partici¬ 
pate therein by erecting a government building and installing an exhibit 
representative of its resources and powers. 

Resolutions offered by Mr. E. A. Colburn of Colorado: 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in its ninth annual ses¬ 
sion assembled, recommends that the Legislatures of the several pre¬ 
cious metal mining states shall enact laws making it a criminal offense, 
-punishable by both fine and imprisonment, for any smelter, mill, sampler, 
or any person or persons handling, dealing in, or buying ore, to mix, dis¬ 
color, disguise, or in any way destroy the' identity of a lot of ore before its 
value has been determined and settlement agreed upon between the seller 
and the buyer. 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, I also 
have a motion which I desire to offer. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The by-laws provide that all reso¬ 
lutions shall be submitted to the Congress before being referred to' the 
resolutions committee, and the members of the Congress will govern 
themselves accordingly. 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OF NEW MEXICO: For that reason I desire 
to present this resolution at this time. It is similar to the one at the 
bottom of page 32 in the last proceedings. 

The resolution was thereupon read by the Secretary, as follows: 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress respectfully requests 
that the Congress of the United States shall provide by law for the locat¬ 
ing and working of the reserved metals—gold, silver, and quicksilver—on 
Spanish and Mexican land grants confirmed by the United States Court 
of Private Land Claims. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I wish to state further that it has 
been the experience of the various committees on resolutions that many 
of the, resolutions submitted to the Congress have not been properly 
drafted. They have been drawn up very hastily, and you will certainly 
confer a great favor upon the Congress and upon the resolutions commit¬ 
tee if you will spend more time in drafting your resolutions. 

• The various resolutions read at this time are referred to the commit¬ 
tee on resolutions. 

The next on the program for this afternoon is a paper on “The Mining 
and Mineral Resources of Nevada,’’ by Fred A. Dignowity. Is Mr. Dig- 
nowity in the hall? (No response.) 

The next paper on the program is on “Good Roads and Their Relation 
to the Mining Industry,” by Arthur C. Jackson, secretary of the National 
Good Roads Association. 

MR. JACKSON OF MAINE: I had assumed from the position that 
paper occupies upon the program that it would come much later in ihe 
session, and hence I haven’t it with me at the present time. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The paper will be deferred until 
later . The next paper on the program is'on “The Waste of the Nation’s 
Resources,” by Dr. J. A. Holmes, of the United States Geological Survey. 


AMERICAN MININCx CONGRESS. 


71 


MR. HYMER OF COLORADO: While Dr. Holmes is coming, I would 
like to announce that the law presented by Governor Pardee this forenoon 
against^ frauds in mining investments, etc., was read before the Denver 
Real Estate Exchange to-day at their weekly luncheon at the Savoy hotel. 
The Real Estate Exchange is the most progressive body in the state of 
Colorado. It was enthusiastically and unanimously adopted, with the rec¬ 
ommendation that the American Mining Congress do all it can to have it 
enforced. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: We will now have the pleasure of 
listening to Dr. Holmes. 

DR. J. A. HOLMES OF THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: I wish 
to say, ladies and gentlemen, that the paper which has been called for is 
one of the general papers of the congress. My judgment is that the time 
of this Congress is more valuable for discussing an'd considering carefully 
the work of the Congress than for gaining information or discussing gen¬ 
eral policies or general facts. I would therefore ask that, at least for the 
present, until we can see how the program runs for the next day or two, 
not only my own paper but other formal papers like it be deferred as long 
as we can have anything brought before this Congress which relates to 
its actual work. I would therefore ask, if the chairman of the committee 
on drainage and legislation is ready to report, that that now be taken up 
and the discussion upon that, which was postponed this morning, coiiiin- 
ued as the regular order of business. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The report of the committee on 
drainage, I believe, was made a special order for 8:30 this evening. I 
think it would be unwise to change that time, in view of the fact that 
members of the Congress who desire to be heard upon that subject may 
not be present this afternoon. 

MR. DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: The committee has until that hour 
to consider the amendments that have been offered. 

THE SECRETARY: The committee is ready to make its report, but 
I think the President’s ruling is correct. 

VICE-PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I would like to ask if Dr. Lindgren 
is in the hall? 

The next address is on “The Development of the Metal Mining Indus¬ 
try in the Western States,” by Dr. Lindgren. Is he in the hall? (No re¬ 
sponse.) 

GOVERNOR PARDEE OF CALIFORNIA: In spite of the protests of 
Dr. Holmes, I would suggest that he read his paper out of his mind. He 
says he has not the paper with him. It is a matter of a great deal of im¬ 
portance and a great deal of interest to me, and, I believe," to the rest of 
the Congress. There seems to be nothing else that can be brought up 
this afternoon in the*way of the business of the Congress, and I would 
suggest and ask that that be done. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I think it would be very wise to 
hear from Dr. Holmes at this time. The other matters of business are 
special orders for different sessions of the Congress, and the remainder 
of the afternoon was to be devoted to the reading of papers. Dr. Holmes, 
can you favor us with your paper? 

DR. HOLMES OF THE U. S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: Ladies and 
Gentlemen: The subject I,have intended to discuss, and of which I have 
asked leave to print-t’:e larger part, is that relating to the waste of the 
nation’s resources. 

Dr. Holmes’ paper will be found in the latter part of this report. See 
index. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Gentlemen, this paper is open for 

discussion. * . • 

If there is no discussion upon this paper I would like to request die 

President to take the chair. 


72 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


President Richards here resumed the chair. ' 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Dr. Buckley will now read a paper pre¬ 
pared by Mr. Giiengerich of Joplin, Mo. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle- 
ment: One of the common remarks made about myself is that I can al¬ 
ways be sanwiched in somewhere to fill up a gap. That is what the Presi¬ 
dent did with me this afternoon when I took the chair, and that is whal 
he is doing with me now when the program is short. So I take pleasure 
in reading this paper by Mr. Chris Guengerich of Joplin, Mo., on “The 
Zinc Industry of the Joplin District.” 

Mr. Guengerich’s paper will be found in the latter part of this report. 
See index. ( 

On motion duly seconded, an adjournment was thereupon taken until 
8:30 p. m. 


OCTOBER 17, 1906; 8:30 p. m. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING IN THE CHAIR. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The meeting of the general session of the 
Congress is now in order. The Secretary has some announcements to 
make. , 

The Secretary read an invitation from the Bullfrog Club of Nevada, 
inviting the American Mining Congress to hold its next annual session in 
Bullfrog, Nevada. 

Resolution offered by Mr. F. L. Patrick of Ohio: 

Whereas, The railroads doing business in the various mining stages 
of the West are in the habit of charging varying rates according to the 
values of ores returnable by the smelters; and, 

Whereas, Said railroads refuse to take the assay returns of reliable 
assayers and chemists, but exact from the shipper the highest rates quoted 
from their tariff sheet where no smelter returns are wanted, even though 
the ore may be the lowest grade quoted in such tariff sheets; now, be it 

Resolved, That this question be submitted to the Interstate Commerce 
commission for a decision of hearing in the city of Denver, at said com¬ 
missioner’s earliest convenience. 

COL. EWING: The resolution will be referred to the committee-on 
resolutions. 

A resolution introduced by Charles J. Downey of Colorado. 

Whereas, This, the ninth annual session of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress has unanimously adopted the report of a committee appointed to 
recommend to the various state Legislatures of the United States a bill 
for a law to punish all such misrepresentations, in the sale of publicly of¬ 
fered shares of corporations, as a felony; and. 

Realizing, as we do, that the need for such legislation has arisen from 
the fact that this country is enjoying an unprecedented interest in favor 
of stock investments, much of which favor is bestowed upon the shares of 
the mining corporations; also, that fully eighty per cent, of the investors 
now placing their surplus funds in the shares of mining companies have 
been recruited to this cause since the year 1900, and are looking only for 
an opportunity to protect themselves; 

Whereas, It is a fact apparent to all thinking persons that a nation 
of stock investors makes necessary very important additions to and revis¬ 
ions of the corporation laws of the states and territories, to the end that 
the theories of these laws shall be readjusted to include a recognition of 
the rights of minority stockholders and prospective investors in stocks, 
as well as of the distinction that must naturally be drawn between the so- 
called close corporation and the public corporation; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the chairman of this body be instructed to name a 
committee of three to thoughtfully study the corporation laws of the United 
States, with the purpose of presenting to the tenth annual session of this 
body a model bill for recommendation to state Legislatures, providing for 
uniform laws that shall require a rigid distinction between the terms 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


711 


close corporation and public corporation and shall, accordingly, require 
all such so-called public corporations organized as such or with such in¬ 
tent, to accompany the filing of their articles of incorporation with a sworn 
copy of a prospectus, setting forth beneficial and necessary information 
concerning the apportionment of their stock, the value of their proposed 
assets, an adequate description of all properties, initial cash subscriptions, 
etc. It being understood as the sense of this body that adequate penalties 
shall be prescribed to deter the filing of false statements in said pros¬ 
pectus. - 

COLONEL EWING: The resolution will likewise be referred to the 
committee on resolutions. 

The next thing on the program is the report of the committee on mine 
drainage, which has been discussed before this body. Is the committee 
ready to report? 

MR. BRUNTON OF COLORADO: I beg to state that your committee 
h-as carefully studied the numerous amendments and substitutions of¬ 
fered during the morning’s discussion, and that the result of our work 
will be read to you by the Secretary. 

THE SECRETARY: The report of the committee was to the effect 
that the following be substituted for the sections as they appeared on the 
original report: 

For section 1 the following shall be substituted: 

Section 1.—Petition for District Organization: Any number of per¬ 
sons, not less than ten, owning and operating mining claims in any min¬ 
ing camp or 'district, whose aggregate valuation for purposes 
of taxation within said district shall be not less than one-third (V-O of the 
total assessed valuation of any property situated within the boundaries of 
the proposed drainage districts, may at any time file with the clerk of the 
District'Court of the county in which such claims are situate, a verified 
petition addressed to the judge of said District Court, praying for the or¬ 
ganization of a mine drainage district. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I introduced an amendhient, and I pre¬ 
sume that the committee had in mind to adopt that amendment. It says 
owning or operating. My amendment says “owning and operating,’’ and 
I think there is a great deal of difference between “owning or operating’’ 
and “owning and operating.” 

THE SECRETARY: I think you are right. 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, in order to bring ihe' 
question properly before the house, I move the adoption of the report of 
the committee. 

The motion was seconded, put by the President and declared carried. 

THE SECRETARY: The committee further report the insertion of 
a new section to be known as section 24, as follows: 

Collection of Tolls: Every drainage district shall have a right to 
collect tolls for the use of right-of-way, upon terms fixed by the board, 
which shall be the same to all parties for like services; to accept compen¬ 
sation for services to adjoining mines outside the district and accept reve¬ 
nue from all parties benefited by any use of the property, assets or ease¬ 
ments of the district. All funds accruing under this section shall be used 
to diminish the tax rate and any excess of revenue over expenses not held 
as a sinking fund shall be repaid pro rata to the the payers of previous 
taxes. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: I don’t know whether it will be just 
in order under the motion adopted this morning to take up these sections 
under their regular order. Possibly it would be in order to go ahead now 
with section 2 and wait for this new section 24 until it comes in numerical 
order. If, however, it is in order, I move the adoption of the committee 
on this section 24. , . 

, The motion was duly seconded, put by the chairman and declared car¬ 
ried. 


74 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


COLONEL EWING: Gentlemen, the report of the comniittee is 
already in and has been adopted, and the law as recommended is under 
discussion now, section by section. 

THE SECRETARY: Section 1 has already been adopted. I presume 
it is not desired to have that come up again. 

Section 2 reads as follows: 

Sec. 2.—Contents of Petition: Such petition shall set forth the name 
of the proposed mine drainage district; the acreage of the mining premises 
situate therein severally owned by the petitioners, and approximately the 
aggregate area of all mining claims within the district, and that said min¬ 
ing premises are believed by the petitioners to have a common source and 
flow of water and can be drained and unwatered by one common system of 
drainage; and that such drainage will be of common benefit to all min¬ 
ing premises within the proposed exterior boundaries of the district. 

A MEMBER: I mov^e the adoption of that section. ' 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: It is moved and seconded that section 
2 be adopted by this Congress. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: I .would like to ask the committee 
the object of that word “exterior” in there. There may be some particu¬ 
lar object in using the word, but it occurs to me a boundary is a boundary 
and there can not be an exterior and an interior boundary, and unless 
there is some reason for the use of the word I move to strike it out. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: It is moved and seconded that the word 
“exterior” preceding the word “boundaries” be stricken out. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the President and declared car¬ 
ried. 

THE SECRETARY: In view of the first section having been changed, 
requiring the petition to show the valuation instead of the acreage, I move 
that section 2 be amended so as to conform with section 1, requiring this 
petition to show the assessed valuation of the various properties of the dis¬ 
trict instead of the acreage. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: You have heard the motion; are there 
any remarks? 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I would like to ask Mr. Callbreath 
whether there was any change in the first section as to the acreage. 

THE SECRETARY: Yes. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: What was it? 

THE SECRETARY: I will read it. (Reads section 1 as amendeil.) 

/ 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: The Secretary read that the total 
valuation. Is it the total valuation or the total assessed valuation? 

r ^ 

THE SECRETARY: It should be the total assessed valuation. I will 
change that. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: The motion is to amend section 2 by 
making it conform with section 1 with reference to the assessed valuation 
of the property of a district rather than the acreage. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared carried. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: Now the motion is on the adoption of 
the section as just read. 

The said motion was thereupon put by the President and declared 
carried. 

The Secretary thereupon read section 3 of the report as follows: 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


75 


Sec. 3. Such petition shalT fuitlier designate the proposed exterior 
boundaries and give th^ names of all mining claims known to be located 
or patented within the district, and the names of the owners thereof so 
far as known to the petitioners. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO; I move to strike out the word “ex¬ 
terior.” 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared car¬ 
ried. 

MR. KING OF CONNECTICUT: Is it not possible that where a 
number of properties are grouped together as constituting the total area 
whicli shall form not less than one-third of the properties, the word 
“exterior” might properly be used? 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I think the gentleman is 
right. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO; Well, Mr. President, I am not a 
lawyer, and because of that, and because I supposed the committee had 
given the matter some consideration and there might be some special 
reason for the^word, I asked for information before I moved to strike it 
out. Now, I don’t know but the word “exterior” may have some legal 
meaning that it does not have in ordinary usage, and I do not know but 
there may be an exterior and an interior boundary of this room. I am 
not able to and have not the legal or any other kind of knowledge to dis¬ 
cover more than one boundary, and I believe that is true, of any district, 
and that this proposed legislation does not attempt to prescribe the 
boundaries of groups or claims. It provides for a drainage district to 
. include certain specifically described property, and the boundary of that 
district is its boundary, and unless there is some special legal meaning 
there is only one boundary, and there isn’t any exterior boundary or any 
interior boundary, and the word is out of place unless there is some 
special legal reason for its being in there. 

MR. KING OF CONNECTICUT: Mr. President and Gentlemen: 
If the gentleman from Colorado will bear with me a minute longer I 
think I can make that point clear. If there were only one mining prop¬ 
erty, which had its definite bounds as described probably in its appli¬ 
cation for patent, or a patent had been granted, there would then not 
be any use' of the word “exterior, but I understand that the district is 
made up of a number of such properties, and to obviate the necessity 
of a long and detailed description of each one and their relative posi¬ 
tions with regard to the rest, simply the exterior boundaries, which 
wo'uld include them all, would be sufficient for the purpose; and if I 
am mistaken I beg to be corrected, but if that be thq. case it seems to 
me the word “exterior” has a very proper and indispensable meaning. 

SENATOR DELAVERGNE OF COLORADO: I can see a case 
which would very likely occur in a mining district where there might be 
an incorporated city within the boundaries of the district, or a school 
section; and in that case you would have an exterior and an interior 
boundary. 

MR. SNAVELY OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I presume 
the object of the word is to prevent describing the boundaries of 
each mining claim. For example, there might be several hundred min¬ 
ing claims patented and described by certain survey field notes within 
this particular district, and the word “exterior” is used by a lawyer in 
drafting laws and bills for the purpose of preventing an unnecessarily 
lengthy description, evidently, in describing the boundaries of each of 
these particular mining claims, which would entail a very difficult, 
lengthy petition and be wholly unnecessary. It seems to me the word 
exterior is very proper to be used. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Mr. President, this bill is 
simply a recommendation to the Legislatures of the different states. 


76 


OFFICIAL PROCEBDINCxS 


There will be lawyers there that will frame up that bill so as to make ii 
conform and be constitutional when passed by the legislature. It is 
absolutely useless for us to split hairs over “interior” and “exterior,” 
etc. Leave it as reported by the committee and let us get through and 
pass to something else. (Applause.) 

MR. COLBURN OF COLORADO: I think the amendment was car¬ 
ried, was it not, striking that word “exterior” out? 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: Yes. 

MR. COLBURN OF COLORADO: I beg leave, then, to move that 
that amendment be reconsidered so that we may get at this thing intelli¬ 
gently. I have ^a right to make that motion, because I am ashamed to 
say I voted affirmatively. I did not stop to think that that word is there 
for a purpose that means something, and if it did not, I would like to 
know what harm it does? 

The motion was duly .seconded, put by the president and declared 
carried. • 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: The bill will remain as it was. 

Now, on the adoption of Section 3 as read. Those in favor of its 
adoption will say aye; contrary no. The ayes have it and the section is 
adopted as read. 

We will proceed with the next sectioiL 

The Secretary then read Section 4 of the report: 

Sec. 4.—Publication of Notice: Upon the filing of said petition, the 
court shall proceed to designate some newspaper published within the 
county where the district is situate, and -shall order that in such news¬ 
paper there be published a notice addressed to all persons (other than 
the petitioners named in the petition), owners of, or interested in, min¬ 
ing claims within the boundaries of the proposed district. 

Is there any objection to this section as read? I hear no objections, 
and the section will therefore stand as read. 

The Secretary thereupon read Section 5. 

Sec. 5.—Such notice shall be published for four successive weeks: 

It shall contain a copy of the petition and shall state that the same 
will be heard on the first day of the term of the said District Court next 
after the date of the last publication, or on such date thereafter as may 
be set by the court, and shall notify all persons, owners of mining claims 
within said district or interested therein, to appear and plead to said 
petition, and that otherwise default will , be taken and a decree made 
according to the facts and the equities of the case as they may be found 
by the court. ' 

MR. PATRICK OP OHIO: Mr. President, I move an amendment 
to that section, that the notice of petition be posted on each' claim simi¬ 
lar to that on patent claims. Very often these notices are printed in a 
small paper and a man wouldn’t see the notice and it would pass through 
without having proper attention. 

Amendment seconded. 

VICE! PRESIDENT EWING: You have heard the motion and the 
second, to amend this section so as to require tlie posting of a notice 
on the claim. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: It seems to me, Mr. President, we are 
trying to burden this thing too much. I can’t see what good that is go¬ 
ing to accomplish. I know in a great many instances wffiere notices of 
patent are generally posted upon claims they are never seen. The best 
evidence, it seems, to me, and the best notice that can be given is 
through the public press^ and it appears to me that we would be bur¬ 
dening this section with unnecessary verbiage. I hope that this amend¬ 
ment will not pass. 

MR. McINTIRE OF WASHINGTON: I cannot possibly see how 
the man whose property may perchance be taken from him finally on 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


77 


account of the formation of a drainage district because he fails to pay 
his proportion ought not to have two kinds of notice, one by publication 
and the other on his property. If you are going to take his property 
away from him it is only proper to give him proper notice. 

MR. PATRICK OF OHIO: I think the government of the United 
States has got this down about as near right as we could get it here, 
and they publish a notice in the paper and they put a notice upon each 
claim, and it requires that notice to be posted in a conspicuous place, 
and a man may be living out on his claim and never see the little pa¬ 
pers that publish notices^ in their columns, while he would see a promi¬ 
nent notice posted upon that claim. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: The resolution was to post a notice 
on the claim as well as to advertise it in the papers. Those in favor 
of'that motion will signify by saying aye; contrary no. A division, I 
think, gentlemen. Those in favor of . the motion will rise and be counted 
by the Secretary, 

A rising vote was thereupon taken. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: The noes have it, and the motion is. 

' dost. 

Now on the adoption of that section as read. Those in favor of that 
section as it is at present will signify by saying aye; contrary no. The 
ayes/ have it and the section is adopted as read. 

The Secretary thereupon read Section 6: 

■ Sec. 6.—The court shall further order that a copy of said notice be 
mailed to each person, other than the petitioners, named as an owner in 
said petition, at least four weeks before the next term of the said court. 
The fact of the publication and of the mailing of the copies shall be 
proved in the same manner as is by law required for the proof of publi¬ 
cation of process in civil cases. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: Is there any objection to this section? 

Hearing none, it will stand approved. 

The Secretary then read Section 7: 

Sec. 7.—Proceedings After Petition Is Filed: All owners of mining 
claims or parties interested therein, including encumbrancers, shall have 
the right to appear and plead to such petition, and if any material alle¬ 
gations of the same are traversed the issue shall be tried to the court’ 
as in equity cases, and if default is made and no traverse or other ob¬ 
jection to the petition filed, the court shall nevertheless require proof 
of all the material allegations of the petition. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: Are there any objections to this section 
as read? Hearing none, it will stand approved. 

The Secretary then read Section 8: 

Sec. 8.—Change, of Boundaries: The boundaries of the proposed dis¬ 
trict shall not necessarily be the, same stated in the petition, and the 
court may diminish but shall not enlarge the same. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: Are there any objections to this sec¬ 
tion? If not, we will pass to the next. 

The Secretary then read Section 9: 

Sec. 9.—Decree and Plat: Upon final hearing, if the finding be in 
favor of the petitioners, the court shall make a decree that the proposed 
mine 'drainage district be established, stating its boundaries and describ¬ 
ing it as “Mine Drainage District No-- of the County of.,” 

giving it the proper number, which decree shall contain a plat of the 
said boundaries and a certified copy of such decree, including the plat, 
shall be filed with the clerk and recorder of the county in which the 
district is situate, and a second copy shall be filed in the ofRce of the 
secretary of state, : 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Mr. President, after the words “which 
decree shall contain a plat of the said boundaries and a certified copy 
of such decree, including the plat,” I would suggest “a plat of the said 



78 


OFFICIAI. PROCEEDINGS 


boundaries and of the proposed drainage system.” In other words, 1 
move that Section 9 read blank, giving it the proper number, “which 
decree shall contain a plat of the said boundaries,” and after the word 
“boundaries” that it read “and tlie proposed‘system,” so that,the pro¬ 
posed system shall be on the plat. That is my amendment. 

Amendment not seconded. 

MR..JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Then I will withdraw the amendment. 

COLONEL EWING: The section will stand approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 10: 

Sec. 10.—Corporate Name: Upon the signing of said decree and the 
filing of said copies, as aforesaid, the said district shall become a mu¬ 
nicipal corporation with power to sue and be sued, under the name and 

style of “Mine Drainage District No...., of the County of.,” 

the number of the district and the name of the county both being part'of 
its corporate name. 

COLONEL EWING: If there is no objection, it will stand approved 
as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 11: 

Sec. 11. — Contracts and Conveyances; Corporate Powers: All con-^ 
tracts and conveyances of the mine drainage district shall be in such, 
its corporate name; but the corporate powers shall be exercised by the 
board of supervisors hereinafter provided for. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objection, the section will 

stand approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 12: 

Sec. 12.—Bond for Costs: Upon the filing of said petition, the peti¬ 
tioners shall file a bond with slifficient surety or sureties to be approved 
by the clerk of the court, conditioned for the payment of all costs which 
may accrue up to and including the filing of said copies of the decree; 
but the court shall have power to apportion the costs between the peti¬ 
tioners and the parties opposing the petition in case of contest. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objection, the section stands 
approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 13: . 

Sec. 13. — Appointment of Supervisors: At any time after the signing 
of said decree and the filing of said copies, the petitioners shall furnish 
in writing to the judge of the District Court the names of fifteen persons, 
mine owners within the district, or officers of corporations owning min¬ 
ing claims within the district, which persons or officers must be free¬ 
holders within and residents of the county from which list such judge 
shall select five persons to be known as the board of supervisors of said 
mine drainage district, appointing them • for terms of, respectively, one, 
two, three, four and five years, and shall appoint their successors having 
like qualifications, from year to year as the terms of office expire or va¬ 
cancies otherwise occur. The persons so appointed shall hold their office 
until their successors are appointed. 

COLONEL EWING: Are there any objections to this section? 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: I move an amendment. After the words 
“names of” on the sixth line, I would suggest “not less than nine nor 
niore than fifteen persons.” In other words, insert the words “not less 
than nine and not more than.” 

Amendment seconded. 

COLONEL EWING: It is moved and seconded that Section 13 be 
so amended as to read: “The names of not less than nine nor more than 
fifteen persons.” You have heard the amendment read, and it is now on 
the adoption of this section with the amendment. 

Those in favor of that motion will say aye; contrary no. The ayes 
have it and the section is adopted. 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


-79 


MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Mr.^President, I would like to ask 
a question. I think, as the Secretary explained' this morning, the ap¬ 
pointment to fill vacancies as the terms expire was to be made in the 
same manner; that is, from persons reported to the court by the own¬ 
ers of the mining property. Is my understanding correct? Does the 
wording “having like qualifications” provide for such continual selection 
of names from which the appointments are to be made? 

THE SECRETARY: It seems to me the provisions of that section 
are doubtful, in view of the fact that the petitioners are the ones who 
are to file these names. These petitioners might not be in the district 
at the time these vacancies occur. 

COLONEL EWING: On the adoption of the section as amended, 
those in favor of its adoption will say aye; contrary, no. The ayes have 
it, and the section is adopted as amended. 

The Secretary then read Section 14: 

Sec. 14.—Office Rqom, Chairman, Clerk, Records, Quorum: The Board 
of County Commissioners shall provide office room for said board 
of supervisors and a place for the deposit of their records. 
Said board shall organize by electing a chairman from their own 
number and by electing a clerk not of their own number, and the board 
shall require such clerk to keep regular minutes of their meetings and 
accounts of all receipts and expenditures. All such records and accounts 
shall be open to public inspection the same as the public records in the 
office of the clerk and recorder. Meetings shall be at the call of the 
chairman or any two members of the board and not less than three mem¬ 
bers shall constitute a quorum. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objection, the section will stand 
approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 15: 

Sec. 15.—Selection of System: Said board shall determine upon a 
system of mine drainage for the district, either by gravity or power or 
by both combined, and to assess the cost thereof upon the property to'be 
benefited thereby. 

MR. FRANKENBERG OF COLORADO: I don’t think it is proper 
or right, and I don’t think the law will protect that report if they go to 
work and assess the mining properties alone. Business men in the dis¬ 
trict, teamsters, mechanics of every description are benefited, and they 
are not mentioned in this at all, but simply mining properties are taken 
in. There are a number of mining properties in operation while there 
are hundreds of claims not developed and that cannot be because the 
capital is not there, and those prospectors that locate their claims are not 
in position to prosecute the development of their claims, and conse¬ 
quently they haven’t got the money. Now, they are assessed in propor¬ 
tion with other producing properties, and if they cannot pay that thos'e 
big corporations swallow them up and the property is 'advertised for sale 
and they lose it. Some provision should be made in this bill by which 
other persons interested as well as the mining operators should come in 
for their proportion of the taxes. 

COLONEL EWING: Have you any aniendment to offer to the sec¬ 
tion? 

MR. FRANKENBERG: Yes, my substitute will be read by the Sec¬ 
retary. 

THE SECRETARY: The suggestion made by Mr. Frankenberg is 
as follows: 

Gentlemen—I desire to offer a substitute to Sections 1, 15, 18, 20, to 
the recommendations offered by your committee on Mine Drainage as 
read. Section 1 to read as follows: 


80 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Petition of District Organization. 

Representatives of any county in any state, the Board of County Com¬ 
missioners, any number of persons not less than ten, owning mining 
claims in any mining camp or district, and not less than 320 acres, which 
are owned -and operated hy them, may, when emergency arrives, file 
with the clerk of the District Court of the county in which said claims 
or district is located a verified petition, addressed to the judge of said 
District Court praying for the organization of a mine drainage district to 
be establshed, setting forth in said petition the necessity of creating a 
drainage district, the disadvantages under which mine operations are 
carried on, and the advantages to be gained, for the operators, com¬ 
munity doing business in said district and beneficial in general to the 
county wherein such district is situated. 

Section 15 to read as follows: 

Selection of System. 

Said board shall determine upon a system of mine drainage for the 
district either by gravity or power, or both, and to assess the cost thereof 
in such proportion and allotments to corporations, mining operators, 
county and community, according to the benefit arising therefrom. 

Section 18 to read as follows: 

To Provide for Payment of Constructing and Maintaining Said Drainage. 

The board shall have power to issue bonds, for the entire amount 
of the expense to construct said drainage, the same to be divided into 
four payments, to become due in 5, 10, 15, 20 years at 5% interest. 

The board shall also have the power to assess, levy and collect, in 
proper proportion, upon all mining claims, and other properties and prem¬ 
ises within said county. 

The board shall meet at the' county court house once a year and 
regulate the assessment which may be necessary for interest on bonds 
and a sinking fund to provide for the payment of said bonds when due, 
said assessment to be furnished to the Board of County Commissioners, 
to be added to the regular assessment, and marked Drainage Assessment. 

Section 20 to read as follows: 

t 

Method of Assessment. 

Any shipping mine in such a district who own their own mills or 
reduction works, and all mine operators who sell their ores to sampler 
mills or smelters, the board of directors shall have the power to assess 
per ton or value ,a certain reasonable amount to be deducted by such 
samplers, mills or smelters where such ores are shipped and sold in 
making settlements, the amount so retained shall be forwarded every 
month on a stipulated day to the county treasurer and shall be known 
as Drainage Fund to be paid out when proper warrants and bills are pre¬ 
sented. 

In addition to the above assessment the railroads and transportation 
companies who haul from mines to points of destination should have a 
fair proportion of assessment. 

. The board shall have power to assess the samplers, mills and smelt¬ 
ers handling the ores of such district for a fair amount, or a donation be 
given by them. 

The board shall meet at some time during the year, compute all col¬ 
lections made and decide upon the balance if any, and such to be assessed 
against properties in regular form according to valuation appearing in 
assessors’ books. F. H. FRANKENBERG, 

Pueblo, Colo. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Mr. President, I rise to a point of order. 
This is entirely out of order at this time, since this afternoon—or this 
morning I believe it was—there was a rule adopted here, or a motion 
duly seconded, that all amendments should be handed in to the committee 
that had this matter in charge. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 


81 


MR. PRANKENBURG OF COLORADO: This was put in the hands 
of the committee and the committee ignored it. The same committee that 
drew up these resolutions and recommendations have also been on the 
committee to-day. Of course they have ignored these reports, and there 
should be some mention made about it. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: My point of order I still maintain, Mr. 
President, that the committee take up all these amendments; that any¬ 
one who had any amendments was given due notice that the committee 
would meet to receive and hear all arguments pro and con on any amend¬ 
ments that they desired to offer, and I make the point of order that 
the amendment is not in order at this time. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I hope my friend from Utah 
will withdraw that point of order. This gentleman has a right to a 
square deal in this Congress. I want to know if they ignored him. The 
committee says not. But it makes nq difference, he has a right to appeal 
to this Congress if they turned him down and he should have a hearing. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Then I will withdraw my point of order. 

MR. FRANKENBERG OF COLORADO: I have simply offered the 
substitute for fairness and squareness toward all mining men in general 
and of operators just as well. They are placing a burden upon the 
mining operators and no one else, and the mining operators must stand, 
if this section is adopted, the entire costs, and you can never make a 
law of that. I move the adoption of my substitute. 

Motion seconded. ^ . 

MR. MORRISON OF COLORADO: Mr. President, in drafting this 
bill we had to steer clear of as many points as we could. It would be 
attacked by rtiterested parties as a matter of course. There are lawyers 
livin'g besides those who drew it, who will be employed by the parties 
who are going to pay the expenses 'of the proceedings under this bill, 
and we have avoided, as far as possible, all constitutional points so as 
to make it one that would stand the test, of course. But if this amend¬ 
ment goes through, then the bill is dead from this minute, because you 
cannot tax the community at large for the benefit of a private interest. 

COLONEL EWING: You have heard the motion for the amendment. 
You can vote it down if you think that is the case. 

The amendment was thereupon put by the Chairman and declared 

lost. 

COLONEL EWING': We will proceed with the reading of the next 
section. 

The Secretary then read Section 16: 

Sec. 16.—Notice of Selection of System: Upon the adoption of any 
system of drainage, the clerk of the board shall cause to be published 
once a week for four successive weeks in some' weekly newspaper pub¬ 
lished in the county, a notice stating in general terms the system adopted 
and the estimated cost, and mail a copy of such notice to each person 
‘shown on the drainage district records to be a party in interest. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objection, the section stands 
approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 17: 

Sec. 17._Letting Contracts: The board shall have power to employ 

labor and professional services as required and to do all things necessary 
to carry out the details of the plan, and to contract for the work to be 
done by single contract or to divide it into sections and let contracts 
from time to time. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objection, the section is ap¬ 
proved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 18. 

Sec. 18.—Bonds and Taxes: In order to provide for the payment of 
the expenses of the drainage, or for the payment of any issue of bonds, 


82 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


the board shall have power to levy and cause to be collected a tax upon 
all mining claims and premises within the district. Such tax shall be 
voted only at a regular meeting of the board and shall not exceed in any 
one year 50 mills on every dollar of valuation as shown by the books of 
the county assessor. 

MR. .JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, the only thing is, I hope 
that the committee will not ask the Utah delegation to introduce this 
measure with this section in our state. If we did, we would not have 
enough money to even pay the commissioners, because our mining claims 
or the valuation placed upon our mining properties is at the rate of $5 
an acre by the assessor, and no other valuation is placed upon them by 
the county assessor, and where claims produce ore the net proceeds are 
taxed by the State Board of Equalization, so that we ought to have con¬ 
siderable leeway there so that in our state or in any other state where 
the same proposition is adhered to we can fill that in to suit the condi¬ 
tions. I would suggest that an amendment be made so that it will read 
“as shown by the assessment roll” instead of the words “the books of the 
county assessor.” 

Amendment seconded. 

COLONEI. EWING: The motion is that the amendment be changed 
to the assessment roll in place of the books of the assessor. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared car¬ 
ried. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, at this time I desire to 
offer a new section that should fit in between Sections 17 and 18. It is as 
follows: 

“That the parties in interest shall be at all times allowed access to 
the different parts of said drainage system, under reasonable regulations.” 

I think there should be a section; I would call it 17a, or 18, and then 
keep numbering down; but I move that as an amendment, that a section 
be inserted between sections 17 and 18, covering that point, “that all 
parties in interest be allowed access to the workings of the said drainage 
system under reasonable rules and re.gulations.” I move that as a new 
section to come in bettveen Sections 17 and 18. 

MR. ELLIOTT OP COLORADO: I believe Brother Josephs a few 
minutes ago raised the point of order that any section of this kind should 
be submitted to the committee for their inspection and report. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I wish to explain that I withdrew my 
point of order. 

MR. MORRISON: I do not like to vote unless I know Avhat I am 
voting on, and I don’t understand that amendment at all. It is a new 
section^ but it is an amendment all the same. As I understand it the 
language is: “shall have.access to all parts of the system.”. What do 
you mean by having access to the system? I don’t understand it. If it 
were put in writing then I might be able to understand it. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Well, I will put it in writing. 

The Secretary then read Section 19: , 

Sec. 19.—Bonds and Taxes: In order to provide for the payment of 
the expenses of the drainage, or for the payment of any issue of bonds, 
the board shall have power to levy and cause to be collected a tax upon 
all mining claims and premises within the district. Such tax shall be 
voted only at a regular meeting of the board and shall not exceed in any 
one year 50 mills on every dollar of valuation as shown by the asses- 
ment roll of the county assessor. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objection, the section will stand 
approved as read. 

' The Secretary then read Section 20: 

Sec. 20.—Collection of Taxes: Such levy shall be certified by the 
clerk under the seal of the district, to the county assessor, and shall be 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


88 


extended upon his books and collected in all respects as provided for 
the collection of other taxes in the county in which the district is situate. 

COLONEL EWING:* Are there any objections to this section as read? 
Hearing none, the section stands approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 21: 

Sec. 21.—Interest, Lien of Bonds: Said board shall have power to 
borrow money necessary to carry out the system of drainage adopted, by 
the issue of bonds bearing interest not to exceed 8% per annum, pay¬ 
able at the office of the county treasurer in even surns of not less than 
$500, and such bonds shall be a lien upon all property within the boun¬ 
daries of the district made taxable under this act, 

COLONEL EWING: Hearing no objections, this section also stands 
approved as read. 

.The Secretary then read Section 22: 

Sec. 22— Warrants: The county treasurer shall pay out the funds 
collected as taxes under the foregoing' sections, or any funds however ac¬ 
quired, only upon warrants drawn against the same by the said district, 
under its corporate seal, signed by the clerk and countersigned by the 
chairman of the board. Warrants drawn under this act shall be assign¬ 
able, transferable and payable in all respects the same as county war¬ 
rants. 

COLONEL EWING: Are there any objections? Hearing none, the 
section stands approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 23: 

Sec. 23.—Salaries and Per Diem: The salary of the clerk shall be 
fixed by the board. The members of the board shall receive no compen¬ 
sation, except $5 per day while in actual session, and no member shall 
receive in the aggregate more than $500 in any one calendar year. 

COLONEL EWING: If there are no objections, this section also 
stands approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 24, as follows: 

Sec. 24.—Collection of Tolls: Every drainage district shall have a 
right to collect tolls for tlie use of right-of-way, upon terms fixed by the 
board, which shall be the same to all parties for like service,' to accept 
compensation for service to adjoining mines outside the district and ac¬ 
cept revenue from all parties benefited by any use of the property, as¬ 
sets or easements of the district. All funds accruing under this section 
shall be used to diminish the tax rate and any excess of revenue over ex¬ 
penses not held as a sinking fund shall be repaid pro rata to the payers 
of previous taxes, 

COLONEL EWING: Hearing no objections, the section stands ap¬ 
proved as read. 

THE SECRETARY: Section 24 as it appears upon the report will 
become Section 25. 

The Secretary then read Section 25: , 

Sec. 25.—Eminent Domain: Any drainage district shall have the 
right to accept deeds for rights of way and other easements, by gift or 
upon compensation to be paid, and when reasonable compensation for 
right of way or o.ther essential easement cannot be agreed upon, the dis¬ 
trict shall have the power to exercise the right of eminent domain under 
the statutes of this state. 

COLONEL EWING: There being no objections, this section stands 
approyed as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 26, as follows: 

Sec. 26.—Prior Drainage Statutes: Nothing in this act shall be con¬ 
strued to repeal the provisions of the statutes of this state concerning 
drainage, where no mine drainage district exists. Said statutes shall 
have no application within the limits of any mine drainage district cre¬ 
ated under the provisions of this act. 




84 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


COLONEL EWINX4: There being no objection, the section stands 
approved as read. 

The Secretary then read Section 18, offered by Mr. Josephs of Utah, 
as follows: 

Sec. 18.—Inspection: All parties in interest shall have access to 
the main avenues and laterals of such drainage system, subject to such 
rules and regulations as are adopted by the board of supervisors. 

MR. MORRISON OF COLORADO: Now I understand it and have 
no objections to it at all. I move its adoption. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the President, and declared 
carried, 

COLONEL EWING: It will be understood that all the sections num¬ 
bered now will be changed from that down. 

A MEMBER: I move the adoption of the bill as a whole, as read 
and passed upon section by section. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the President and declared 
carried. 

MR., JOSEPHS OP UTAH: I move you,. Mr. President, that a vote 
of thanks be extended to this committee who have so ably compiled 
a bill which Avill be of inestimable benefit to a great many of the mining 
districts throughout these western states. 

Motion seconded. 

COLONEfL EWING: „You have heard the motion, and I want to say 
that I think the gentlemen who have labored in preparing this bill de¬ 
serve our thanks, and we will return thanks to them with' a rising vote. 

The motion was thereupon put by the chair and carried unanimously, 
by a rising vote. 

THE SECRETARY: I will read a resolution introduced by Mr. F. 
Wallace White, of Ohio, United States delegate at large. 

“Resolved, That the President of this Congress appoint a committee 
of five members in each state to be known as a state legislative committee 
of the Mining Congress, for the purpose of securing the enactment of a 
law by the various state legislatures of the country as proposed by Gov¬ 
ernor Pardee of California and endorsed by this Congress, and for the 
transaction of such other business as may properly come before this com¬ 
mittee.” 

COLONEL EWING: The resolution will be referred to the committee 
on resolutions. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I move that we adjourn now 
to to-morrow morning at 10 o’clock, and that the committee on resolutions 
meet at 9 o’clock. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the President and declared 
carried. 

An adjournment was thereupon taken to October 18, 1906, at 10 
o’clock, a. m. 


OCTOBER 18, 1906, 10 O’CLOCK, A. M. 

The Congress was called to order at 10 o’clock a. m., by President 
Richards. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Secretary has some announcements 
to make. 

A resolution by Gomer Thomas, state coal inspector of Utah, was 
read by the. Secretary, as follows: 

“Whereas, The coal industry, on account of the laws of the United 
States applicable to coal lands, is detrimental to the public welfare, these 
laws prohibit any person or association from acquiring title to more 
than 320 acres of coal lands, which amount of land is insufficient to jus¬ 
tify the investment of the necessary capital to establish a safe and per¬ 
manent coal plant, and 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


85 


“Whereas, There are thousands of acres of virgin coal lands in the 
West unoccupied and unclaimed, which I am confident would be developed 
were the laws such that capital could lawfully acquire title to a suffi¬ 
cient area to justify its investment in the appliances and transportation 
facilities necessary to successfully place the coal upon the market, and 
Whereas, These laws should be such as to justify capital in develop¬ 
ing the coal lands of this state, and at the same time be safeguarded 
that no person or association of persons could monopolize and control the 
coal situation, or hold large areas of coal lands unless the same were 
being developed, and 

“Whereas, The fact that the equipment of a modern coal plant will 
cost in the neighborhood of $1,0.00,000 to handle from 1,000 to 5,000 tons 
of coal per day, in connection with the construction and operation of 500 
coke ovens, it may be readily seen that a larger area than 320 acres is re¬ 
quired to induce such an outlay, and 

“Whereas, a repetition of the coal famine that the West and the 
Northwest have had for the last two years would be prevented by an 
amendment to the federal laws concerning the location of coal lands; 
therefore be it 

“Resolved, By the American Mining Congress in convention assem¬ 
bled; respectfully petition the Congress of the United States to amend 
Sections Nos. 2347 and 2348, so as to read as follows: 

Proposed Substitute and Amendment for Sections 2347 and 2348 of 

United States Coal Land Laws. 

Be It Enacted by the Congress of the United States, That Sections 2347 
and 2348 of the Revised Statutes of the United States Mining Uaws, 
Be Amended to Read as Follows: 

United States Revised Statutes—Section 2347. Every person above 
the age" of tw’enty-one years, who is a citizen of the United States, or 
who has declared his intention to become such, or any association of per¬ 
sons severally qualified as above, shall upon application to the registrar 
of the proper land office, have the right to enter by legal subdivisions 
any quantity of vacant coal land of the United States not otherwise ap¬ 
propriated or reserved by competent authority, not exceeding 320 acres 
to such individual person, 5,120 acres to such association, upon payment 
to the receiver of not less than $10 per acre for such lands where the 
same shall be situated more than fifteen miles from any complete railroad 
and not less than $20 per acre for such lands as shall be within fifteen 
miles of such road. 

% 

’ Sec. 2348. Any person or association of persons severally qualified 
as above provided,- who have opened, improved or shall hereafter open 
and improve any coal mine' or mines upon the public lands, and shall 
be in actual possession of the same, shall be entitled to a preference-right 
of entry under the preceding section of the mines so opened and im¬ 
proved; provided, that when any association of not less than sixteen 
persons severally qualified as above provided, shall have expended not less 
than $20,000 in working and improving any such mine or mines such asso¬ 
ciation may enter not exceeding 5,120 acres including such mining im¬ 
provements, Provided that any persons or association of persons shall 
have the right and privilege of selling or disposing of his or their rights 
with the understanding that the purchaser assumes all obligation to pay 
for the same. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The first order on the regular program 
for^ this morning is the subject “The Mutual Relations and Grievances of 
the" Smelter Trust and Ore Producer.” This is to be presented by Sena¬ 
tor DeLavergne of Colorado. This is a topic in which every one is inter¬ 
ested, and it is to be hoped that the debate will proceed along lines that 
will bring out the truth about these matters on the highest plane possible. 
The topic is now open to Senator DeLavergne. 

SENATOR DELAVERNE, OF COLORADO: Mr. President," ladies and 
gentlemen: With your permission, I will precede this paper with a few 



OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


8G 


remarks, stating to you that I will not encumber this document with any 
computation of figures relating to the large profits of the American Smelt¬ 
ing and Refining Company, as I do not think we are concerned so much 
in the amount they earn as we are in the manner in which they obtain 
it. This vast subject I believe the committee, if it were before them 
again, should divide into different sections in such a manner as to give 
to the different members an opportunity to 'bring before this Congress 
their special grievances. I think the different branches of this large in¬ 
dustry such as the coal, copper, lead and silver, should have been repre¬ 
sented by members from those special sections where those interests 
are the most important. However, as that matter has been overlooked, I 
will take up the subject as I have it prepared: 

Senator DeLavergne’s paper will be found in the latter part of this 
report. See index. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: .1 am informed that Mr. Franklin Guiter- 
man, general manager of the American Smelting and Refining Company, 
has kindly consented to lead the discussion of the subject of the paper 
you have just heard, and I know you will be pleased to hear from him. 
I have the pleasure of introducing to you Mr. Franklin Guiterman. (Ap¬ 
plause.) 

Mr. Guiterman’s paper will be found in the latter part of this report. 
See Index. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question now, I think you will rec¬ 
ognize, has been fairly presented, and is open for general discussion, and 
we hope it will be conducted along the same high lines. The question is 
now in your hands. 

MR.. JOSEPHS, OP UTAH: Mr. President and gentlemen of the 
American Mining Congress. I believe in fair play. I believe in fair play 
when it comes down to a question of business between the interests in¬ 
volved in the question now before us. We in Utah can happily say, “God 
bless the American Smelting and Refining Company,” for this reason, 
that they were grinding us under their heels for years and showed to 
outside capital that the returns on the capital invested were so' great 
that others could come into the field, and it finally resulted in bringing 
into our state competition which is of inestimable benefit to the ore pro¬ 
ducers of Utah. But our main evil and grievance that we have, not only 
against the American Smelting and Refining Company, but as well against 
all smelters operating either in Colorado, or Utah, is this, that we believe 
we are not getting a square deal on the quotations, upon which they base 
their settlements. In order to simplify my point, I desire to quote from 
the newspapers: 

On October 12, 1906, local settling prices, as reported by the American 
Smelting and Refining Company, on copper, electrolytic, was 19% cents. 
The same day the Associated Press states that copper, electrolytic copper, 
was selling at 21% cents per pound. Now, what the ore producer in Utah 
particularly wants to know is, what becomes of the two cents. Why are 
we not getting it? If this is an actual quotation of the price of copper 
on the 12th day of October in New York, the ore producer in Utah desires 
to know from the American Smelting and Refining Company why he does 
not obtain that price. If a man sends a car load of wheat to Chicago 
to be sold upon the open market, it is sold upon the quotations made upon 
the Chicago Board of Trade, and if a broker there returns to him a fic¬ 
titious quotation he has a right of action at law against the broker for 
giving him the wrong returns. I will state that this is the substance of a 
resolution which I have presented before this Congress, and I think it but 
meet at this time to discuss it. It belongs to the question of evils and 
grievances concerning which Senator DeLavergne gave us an exposition. 
We think we are entitled to the quotation of the metal upon the day 
of our settlement. As an illustration, a carload of ore comes in from the 
mines and is sampled, either at the smelter or at the sampler, at the 
o])tion of the producer or seller, the assays are made by two competent 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


87 


assayers, one of which may be the one furnished by the smelter, and the 
returns are then presented to the smelter. They are supposed to adjust 
their settlements on the quotation of the metal on the day of assay, and 
we invariably find, we ore producers of Utah, that we are not receiviirg’ 
the actual quotation which was made on that day in New York. In some 
of our contracts it is expressed that settlements shall be based on quota¬ 
tions as per the Engineering and Mining Journal, the average price of the 
metal for the week. Now, in making a comparison of those quotations 
given in the Engineering and Mining Journal, on copper for instance, we 
find that they do not compare and never compare with those sent out 
by the Associated Press, and the Associated Press generally can be relied 
upon to give the actual state of affairs, as near as it can. 

And that, gentlemen, is the substance of my resolution, and it is one 
of the evils and the grievances that we have against all smelters, not 
singling out the American Smelting and Refining Company. 

Now, I want to call your attention to some grievances that we did 
have—and I understand th^t some of the ore producers in our state have 
still that grievance: On December 8, 1905, I shipped a car of ore, the 
metallic contents of which were .OG of an ounce in gold per ton, 80 ounces 
in silver per ton and 49 per cent. lead. In my settlement sheet made by 
the Amencan Smelting and Refining Company, of the Utah department, 
there is no pay for gold. However, on the 20th of last month, September 
20, 1906, I sold a carload of ore to the American Smelting and Refining 
Company containing metallic contents as follows: .025 of an ounce in 
gold per ton, 122 ounces in silver, and 48 per cent, lead, and the insoluble 
matter and the iron practically the same as the last shipment. Now, 1 
would like lo know why the American Smelting and Refining Company 
a year ago did not pay me $1.15 for gold that was then in the ore. Pre¬ 
sumably that helped to pay the enormous dividends that the American 
Smelting and Refining Company has been paying and the bonuses paid 
yearly to its employes. (Ai^plause.) , 

Certainly, if I make any misstatements here, the general manager, 
whom I have never had the pleasure to meet, is here and can correct 
them. 

I will say this much, that smelting rates to-day, as they exist in 
Utah, are lower than at any time in the history of the state. Whether it 
is due to that competition or-whether it is due to the desire of the Ameri¬ 
can Smelting and Refining Company to pose as philanthropists in our 
community, I do not -know. I will leave the members here to judge for 
themselves. 

Now, gentlemen, I believe, as I said at the outset of my remarks, in 
fair play. The Colonel has spoken' about the moisture. Now, I believe 
everybody is wrong on that. The American Smelting and Refining Com¬ 
pany has nothing at all to do with the moisture in the ore. All ores 
contain some water, as those of you know who have had experience. Now, 
neither the American Smelting and Refining Company nor any other 
smelter has any control over the moisture in ore. The moisture is as¬ 
certained by quantitative analysis by the assayer. I have heard in some 
quarters, that the boys sometimes turn the hose on a carload of ore when 
it gets into the smelter, but I don’t know of any particular cases, and 
I do not believe that would make much difference. 

In regard to sampling, the American Smelting and Refining Company 
*did initiate in our state the practice of sampling all ores free, and gave 
to the ore producer the choice of having them sampled either at a public 
sampler or at their own. 

I desire to read from a periodical which is published, I believe, here 
in Denver, in which the argumejit is made that the ore producer is en¬ 
titled to publicity of the affairs of the American Smelting and Refining 
Company. ■ I take issue. The American Smelting and Refining Company 
is merely a quasi-public corporation. It is at the same-time a private 
corporation. It runs its business the same, as any other corporation, and 
I do not believe that the ore producer is entitled' to know anything about 


88 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


the inside affairs of the company unless he is fortunate enough to hold 
some stock. But this article states this: 

“Ore producers have a right to demand more publicity in the affairs 
of the smelting company. The public has a right to complete statistics, 
including what is nominally charged for treatment, the value of the metals 
recovered, and how much of this amount is delivered to the ore producers. 
In other words, it should be known just what tribute the smelters are 
collecting from the mines. Corporate publicity that would be effective 
along these lines deserves the support of mining men. * * *” 

Certainly, the statements of Senator DeLaver^ne regardiiig the con¬ 
dition in Cripple Creek is something new to us. It is a local condition 
that exists in Colorado. We are not burdened with the same thing in 
Utah. But our main grievance, as I started to say in opening my remarks, 
is on the quotations, and I would like to hear from Mr. Guiterman his 
explanation of that difference, because I believe he owes it to our state, 
which has brought the mining industry into such prominence. We-think 
we have a state that is forging rapidly to the front; more rapidly, probably, 
than any other state in this Rocky mountain region. And I want to say, 
in justice to the American Smelting and Refining Company, that that 
company is helping to do that work. They have lately erected, some • 
miles from Salt Lake City, an enormous plant costing an enormous amount 
of money, to treat ores which could not otherwise have been taken care 
of. As Mr, Bern, in his paper on “The Mines and Mineral Resources of 
Utah,” has stated, we have one property alone -in Bingham—or rather two 
properties—that are capable of producing and will produce 20,000 tons 
a day. Now, that total will have to be taken care of, and the American 
Smelting and Refining Company came into the breach and erected this 
magnificent plant fifteen miles from Salt Lake City. (Applause.) 

Now, if I can have the indulgence of the Congress, I would like to ’ 
ask Mr. Guiterman to make an explanation of those differences in quo¬ 
tations. It is a good opportunity for him, and I do not believe he will 
hesitate to avail himself of the opportunity. The Utah delegation is here, 
we have brought the question up before our mine operators association, 
and certainly we do ncrt believe and Utah does not believe in vicious 
legislation. We do not think any vicious legislation should be practiced 
against any corporation or any individual who are putting their money 
into a community, but we do believe in fair play and a square deal, and 
we think we are entitled to it. 

I thank you, gentlemen. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further remarks upon this 
question? 

MR. GUITERMAN: I have not the pleasure of knowing the gentle¬ 
man, but I have taken great pleasure in learning that he still continues 
to ship his ore to the smelting trust, and that he has also enjoyed the 
benefit of reduced treatment charges. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: We have a contract, Mr. Guiterman, 
and are compelled to. (Laughter and aplause). 

MR. GUITERMAN: Under that contract, however, yon are still re¬ 
ceiving more tor your ore than you did a year ago. 

But in reference to the matter of quotations, this is an extremely 
simple one. Owing to the solicitation of the chief prodncers of ore, 
not only in Colorado but also in Utah and Montana, it was agreed by 
common consent that the official quotations should be those 'vVhich were 
published in the Engineering and Mining Journal, a journal which is 
recognized as the leading exponent of the mining industry of the United 
States. In addition to this,'there are quotations sent out by the associ¬ 
ated press from the so-called Metal Exchange in New York, which is, 
again by the consen&us of opinion, recognized as entirely unreliable; 
hence we have adopted that quotation which appears in the Journal, 
which will vouch for the correctness of the same. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


89 


MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH; What security have the ore producers 
as to the correctness of the quotations of the Engineering and Mining 
Journal? 

MR. GUITERMAN; The reputation of the editor of that Joirrnal 
and you are privileged to write them and find out on what they base 
their quotations. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Is the American Smelting and Refining 
Company or any of its officers or directors interested directly or in¬ 
directly in the Engineering and Mining Journal? 

MR. GUITERMAN: Not to my knowledge. ' I know nothing about 
it. 

MR. DeLAVERGNE OF COLORADO: I am not going to make any 
talk, but I am just going to make public here an apology to Mr. Guiter- 
nian from having failed to furnish him aa copy of the remarks that I made 
this morning. I had partially promised to do so, but since coming to the 
city I have been extremely busy on a matter which involved the per¬ 
sonal liberty of a person who is confined in a state institution, and have 
been working upon that and did not complete my paper until last night. 
So I wish to apologize. 

MR. GUITERMAN OF COLORADO: It is entirely unnecessary. Sen¬ 
ator. 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: The Engineering and Mining Jour¬ 
nal has been brought into the discussion. As editor of that Journal and. 
the one who is responsible for its quotations, I am in a position to speak 
somewhat authoritatively in regard to the matter. The Engineering and 
Mining Journal has for twenty-five years or-more quoted the prices of 
the metals in the wholesale market. The large transactions in metals 
are not done on the Exchange, but are done directly between the pro¬ 
ducer and the consumer. It has been consistently the effort of the Jour¬ 
nal through all these years, and its policy I shall continue, to make 
quotations on that basis. The matter has been explained time and again 
in its columns, so that everyone should be cognizant of its policy. Our 
quotations are based on these wholesale transactions. Our test of ac¬ 
curacy is a comparison between our average and the average which is 
actually realized by various producing companies as reported in its 
official statement. What I say now has special reference to copper. 
But the same thing pertains to lead, silver and other forms of commer¬ 
cial metals. The wholesale transactions in all these metals are made up 
by contract directly between the produce*!’ and consumer, not on the Ex¬ 
change, and we claim to represent accurately the average of those con¬ 
tracts. (Applause). 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, I wish to make but a 
few remarks. I believe in a matter of this kind we should have a pretty 
general expression. The smelting business is so identified with the min¬ 
ing interests that one cannot exist without the other. They must abso¬ 
lutely work in harmony to attain the best end and the best results for 
the producers of ore. 

Since I have been engaged in mining, in these last many years, I 
have done practically but very little shipping, but operate such mines 
where we have reduced our ores into bullion and shipped it direct to the 
Mint. It has only been within the last ten years that I have been con¬ 
nected with mines that have shipped to smelters. I have shipped largely 
to the American Smelting and Refining Company, and am shipping to 
them now to some extent, but am shipping, too, to their competitors. 
With the improved methods in smelting and in metallurgical ways they 
have been able to give us a much better rate and enable us to handle 
such ores as we were not able to mine or ship t 0 ‘ the smelters years 
ago. I have confidence in the general principle that competition is the 
life of trade, and to those men in Cripple Creek, if they are not satisfied, 
they have recourse in combining their capital and putting in a smelter 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


DO 

of their own if by so doing they can save a. great deal of money. We 
have the good fortune'out in oiir state of not depending upon one concern. 
We have some of our larger mines operating their own individual smelters, 
I expect for the reason that they thought there was money in it for them; 
others have come into the field in competition with the American Smelt¬ 
ing and Refining Company, and today under the same methods we can 
get, on our lead ores, for instance, two or three or four or five dollars a 
ton more than we could a few years ago. So I say it has reduced itself 
to the broad proposition of competition being the life of trade. It is 
natural tor all of us to make as large a profit as we possibly can. Your 
dry goods merchant here in Denver, if he has no competition, or even 
if he has lots of it, will take fifty per cent profit on what he sells if he 
can get it. So it is with the smelting company. If by competitioh they 
are compelled to take less than that, they are willing to take a less profit. 
Of course it is natural for all of us to criticize the large profits to 
some extent which have been made by the American Smelting and Re¬ 
fining Company. We all take it for granted that they have absorbed all 
the different concerns in the country and issued their preferred stock, 
that was the investment proper, although the common stock was watered, 
and they have been able to pay a handsome dividend on the common 
stock. But we realize, too, that their earnings have not all been dis¬ 
tributed in dividends but have gone into improvements. They have 
invested large amounts of money and added to the wealth of the company 
and to the assessable valuation of their property in the districts in which 
they operate, which is a great source of revenue for those particular dis¬ 
tricts. The men they employ, the tremendous pay roll which they main¬ 
tain, adds very materially to the welfare of the laboring classes, and 
the community in which those laborers are employed. So' my stand upon 
this question is that we should encourage competition. By so doing, we 
can remedy any evil which may exist. (Applause). 

MR. PATRICK OF OHIO: Mr. President,. Clear Creek County’s 
complaint or grievance is this: We believe that the original charge for 
smelting pays for the smelting, which is $6.00. We grieve because we 
do not get paid for our one and a half, or two per cent, of copper, for our 
ten per cent of zinc, for our five per cent of lead, and that we only re¬ 
ceive nineteen dollars an ounce for our gold and ninety-five per cent of 
the value of the silver for our silver. (Applause). 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I want to ask Mr. 
Guiterman a question or two, and something in the line of the matter 
of competition. He has informed us that we have competition in Colo¬ 
rado at least, and I would like to ask where the shipper from Clear 
Creek, Boulder county can sell his ore in competition with the trust or 
the combination as Mr. Guiterman has preferred to call it. I have been 
shipping a little ore from those two counties for a number of years, and 
so far as I know, during the past five years we have only had one place 
to sell. It is true that there is an alleged sampling works, and I would 
like to ask some questions about that if they might not be considered of¬ 
fensive. I am informed, reliably I believe, that if we decline to sell our 
ore to the sampler and ship it direct to the smelter, the smelter pays 
the sampling works a regular charge on every ton of ore and concentrates 
that we shij) in that way. I would like to know whether I am correctly 
informed in regard to that or not. 

I would also like to ask whether or not the treatment charges on 
ore shipped from Clear Creek county that were in force while the Car¬ 
penter smelter was in operation, during its last period, were remunerative 
or not to the smelters here in Denver. 

I would also like to ask whether any ore or any very great amount 
of ore was shipped from the Denver smelters to Pueblo for smelting dur¬ 
ing the time of what is known as the Omaha and Grant strike at the time 
that smelter was Closed down. 

The reason for that question is that as soon as that strike occurred 
a dollar a ton was added to the treatment charge to pay the freight from 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


91 


Denver to Pueblo, and that charge, to my knowledge has never been 
taken off. 

Now, it is a fact that almost immediately after the closing of the 
Carpenter smelter the rates of the Denver smelters were materially in¬ 
creased, so that we must arrive at one of two conclusions—either we are 
being robbed by those increased rates—well, I will change that lan¬ 
guage; I don’t want to be offensive at all; I will withdraw that, and I 
will say that we are forced to the conclusion that we are either paying 
too much on those increased rates or that we were not paying enough 
while the other smelter was in operation, and.that the decrease was sim¬ 
ply to put competition out of business so that they might charge the 
shipper more than fair rates. There has been, of course, since the closing 
of that smelter, at least two or three changes in the amount of treatment 
charges. One reduction was made; that is, it was widely heralded as a 
reduction of, as I remember it, sometliing about a dollar a ton, but pre¬ 
vious to that reduction we had been receiving 9714% for our gold if it ran 
half an ounce or more to the ton. We were receiving pay for all of the sil¬ 
ver over one ounce. At the time that reduction was made a change was 
made in the basis of payment for those metals, and we are only paid 
95% for gold between half an ounce and two ounces, and we are only 
paid for silver when there is two ounces in the ore; and I submit—and 
I believe I am absolutely correct—that the changes in the method of pay¬ 
ing for those two metals more than made up the apparent reduction in 
the treatment charge. 

Now, we have been giving average reduction in charges on ore. 
It. is true that there are now apparently very low rates on certain low 
grade classes of ore, but are we not—that is, are not the shippers pay¬ 
ing enough more on the higher grades to at least equalize the reduction 
on those lower grades? 

In relation to the matter of this payment to the only sampling works 
we have that we can reach from Clear Creek and Boulder counties, I want 
to say that my information that these sums I speak of are paid to the 
sampling works, whether we ship to them or not, was given to me by Mr. 
Crawford Hill. We are told, too, that this great Grant smelter out here 
is out of commission, and a reason was given for it. Now, I dislike to even 
insinuate the possibility that the full reason was not given, but I would' 
like to ask if the fact that the machinery and processes in that smelter 
were pretty badly out of date was not one of the large considerations 
for its being dismantled, 

I believe that covers the questions that I desired to ask, but I sim¬ 
ply wish to say one word -in reference to the matter of moisture re¬ 
ferred to by Senator Josephs, and this does not apply to any smelters, 
but I have seen samples of ore running very high in sulphur placed on 
a red hot cast iron plate to dry out the moisture, and, very singular to 
relate, when that moisture test was completed, there was not very much 
sulphur in that sample, and. the resylt was that the wet sulphur in our 
ore was deducted as water. If 1 have not made it plain, I want to say 
that that did not apply to any smelter. It was an ore buyer. I want to say 
this much further, that during the entire time I have been shipping to 
the Denver smelters- these small runs from the little insignificant camus, 
I have never had the slightest trouble in making settlements. I have never 
had but one shipment resampled, r believe during the entire time 
we have never umpired more than twice, and that we have had no diffi¬ 
culty in agreeing upon a settlement right off on the preliminary or first 
assays. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further remarks? 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, my remarks perhaps 
do not apply direct to-the smelter, but that we are more fortunate out 
in Utah than you are here in Colorado. I think we are ahead of you 
from the conversations and the remarks that have been made here. 
(Applause.) We out there' do not sample our ore with shovels—every 
twenty-fifth shovel, or every twenty-fifth i)art, or anything of that sort. 


92 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Our samplers, Messrs Taylor and Brimton and others, are right up 
to date, and in our contracts the sampling of any of these concerns is 
absolutely taken as a basis of settlement. We have the privilege of send¬ 
ing it direct to the smelters if we see fit and to send a representative 
there to watch the sampling, and some of our concerns, especially, who- 
have low grade ore, on which they naturally want to save every dollar 
they possibly can, and which runs so uniform that you can take a grab 
sample here and there it will almost give you the average, will avail 
themselves of that opportunity and thereby save that money. High 
grade ores, as I said before, are almost always taken as final. 

We have no difficulty in Utah and have no controversy on that point 
with any of our smelting companies. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I would like to ask a question of Mr. 
Ingalls. As editor of the Engineering and Mining Journal, I would like 
to ask you whether it is true or not that the United Metals Selling Com¬ 
pany furnishes your paper with a daily quotation on copper metal. 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: No, it is not true. It is absolutely 
untrue. 

MR.. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Can you tell us, then, where these 
quotations are obtained? 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: Our quotations are obtained from 
inquiry in the market among the larger selling agencies which dispose 
of metal. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Is the United Metals Selling Company 
one of those large agencies? 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: It is not. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: A selling agency? 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: A selling agency. But the United 
Metals Selling Company • will not talk at all with anyone on market 
conditions, and that is the reason that we do not consult them. We have 
repeatedly invited them to furnish us with a record of their transac¬ 
tions, but they decline to do so. 

» 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: But I failed to grasp from your re¬ 
marks of a few moments ago as to how you accounted for the difference 
in quotations on copper that I spoke of. 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: I do not account for them; I 
merely explained my own. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Do you discredit the Associated Press 
in that regarcf,? 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: Since you put it in that way, I 
will say yes. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: That is all I want to know. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I simply want to express, on behalf of 
this Congress, as its chief executive, the appreciation of this Congress 
of the manly way in which this debate has been carried on. It has been 
demonstrated that this body, under this system, can be of great use, 
and I want to express to Mr. Guiterman the appreciation of this body 
especially for the manly way in which he has come here and presented 
the side of the smelter interests upon this question. 

We will now take a recess until 2 o’clock p. m. 

TWO O’CLOCK P. M. 

Denver, Colo., Nov. 18, 1906. 

Vice President Buckley in the chair. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The Congress will please be in 
order. 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


93 


MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. Chairman, I rise for information as 
to whether the debate or discussion upon the paper of Senator De La- 
vergne has been ended, or is still before the convention. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The discussion on the paper of 
Senator De Lavergne has not been closed. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I therefore ask you, Mr. Chairman—I 
don’t see present Mr. Guiterman or Mr. Ingalls, and I will ask you to. 
request their presence before I continue on the line of argument which 
I started on. There are some very important matters that I desire to 
bring before this Congress, having been requested to do so by quite a 
number of delegates, matters on which they would like to be enlight¬ 
ened, and I believe that, in all justice to the American Smelting & Re¬ 
fining Company, the Engineering and Mining Journal and many others 
interested vitally in this question, that we should' have their presence to 
answer any questions or dispute any statements I may make. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Gentlemen, if there are any fur¬ 
ther remarks to be made on the smelter discussion of this morning, I 
will say, for the information of the gentleman from Utah, that we can 
send out and endeavor to find the gentlemen, and if it meets with the, 
approyal of the Congress I will do so at this time. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I move you, Mr. Chairman, that the 
chair be requested to ask the presence here of Mr. Ingalls and Mr. Guiter¬ 
man. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: If there are no objections the chair 
will send out and request the attendance of Mr. Guiterman and Mr. In¬ 
galls at this meeting for the purpose of continuing the discussion which 
was not completed this morning. 

The next order of business is the reading of resolutions. The Secre¬ 
tary will read the resolutions subinitted. 

A resolution introduced by Mr. Arthur C. Jackson of Maine was read 
by the Secretary, as follows: 

Whereas, The national government just one hundred years ago, be¬ 
gan the construction of a great national highway between the East and 
West, and expended upon the same more than $7,000,000, producing one 
of the best and most useful roads ever built; therefore, be it 

Resolved, That the Congress of the United States is urged to provide 
for the investigation of the cost of extending such national road to the 
Pacific coast. 

Another resolution introduced by Mr. Arthur C. Jackson read by the 
Secretary as follows: 

In view of the enormous importance of good roads to mining inter¬ 
ests* in common with all other interests; be it 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in annual session as¬ 
sembled, heartily endorse the principle of government loans to the sev¬ 
eral states and territories, in aid of road construction, and commends to 
the serious consideration of the United States Congress the bills it now 
has pending providing for such loans. 

A resolution introduced by J. Aaron Ingalls of Nevada was read by the 
Secretary as follows: 

Whereas, In the acts of Congress granting lands to the Pacific rail¬ 
roads there was a distinct provision excepting from the operation of the 
grant all mineral lands, except coal and iron lands; and, 

Whereas, In spite of said exception and reservation large areas of 
government lands containing gold, silver, and other precious metals have 
been through fraud, mistake, or carelessness patented to the different 
Pacific railroads; and. 

Whereas, In the White Horse mining district, Washoe county, Ne¬ 
vada, patents were issued on December 30, 1902, covering nearly 50,000 
acres of rich and valuable mineral land upon which land, at the time of 
the issuance of said patent, there were and since then have been made a 
large number of legal mining locations, upon which there was and is a 


94 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 

large amount of development work, uncovering mineral deposits of great 
value; and, 

Whereas, Such patent was issued entirely without the knowledge 
of the miners owning and in'possession of claims on the patented area 
and actively working the same, thereby causing enormous loss and dam¬ 
age to such miners; and, 

-Whereas, The issuance of said patent will necessarily give rise to 
endless arid expensive litigation, resulting in disaster to one of the most 
prosperous mining districts in the state of Nevada; 

Now, therefore, it is the sense of the American' Mining Congress 
that the legal department of the government of the United Staes be re¬ 
quested to institute proceedings to set aside and cancel said patent. 

* VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: These resolutions will take their 
regular course and be referred to the committee on resolutions, 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Mr. Chairman, on behalf of 
the committee on resolutions, I report to this Congress resolution num¬ 
ber one. The committee on resolutions recommends its adoption by the 
Congress. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: We will listen to the reading of 
resolution No. 1. 

The Secretary thereupon read the report of the committee, as fol¬ 
lows: 

“Report of committee on resolutions. The committee on resolutions 
reports that we recommend that resolution No. 1, introduced by Senator 
Josephs, be passed. Said resolution is as follows: 

Resolved, That the President of the American Mining Congress ap¬ 
point at the earliest practicable date, a committee of not more than three 
on legislation in each state, who shall co-operate’ with him in bringing 
before the several state Legislatures the resolutions and memorials 
adopted from time to time by this Congress. 

“Resolved, That -the ways and means committee be instructed to 
co-operate with the President in bringing properly before the Congress of 
the United States, the President of the United States, and the 
Honorable Secretary of the Interior, the appropriate resolutions adopted 
by this Congress, and such other matters as in their judgment may advance 
the purposes of this Congress.” 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. Chairman, I believe now we have 
the right idea. If we can only further this work, not come here and 
merely resolute and talk, we could go back to our respective states and 
accomplish something. Each one of those who are appointed on these 
committees should see to it that the resolutions which are passed here 
to-day and which are intended to be effective, beneficial to the mining in¬ 
dustry throughout the several states, that these resolutions are not 
only brought to the attention of the legislatures of tlie respective states, 
but as well to use all efforts and their best endeavors to have those resolu¬ 
tions put into laws to be placed upon the statute books of the states. 

We also ought to see to it that we can maintain at Washington men 
who, by infiuence, are able to convince Congress of the utility of some 
of these resolutions, and see to it that these resolutions are put into 
proper form and laws devised therefrom to be put upon the statute 
books of the nation, I believe you can already see the utility of the reso¬ 
lution which has been offered here. 

MR. WHITE OF OHIO: I want to move an amendment to that reso¬ 
lution. Simply that the three be changed to five; and I beg to state the 
reason why that should be done. 

MR. DELAVERGNE OF COLORADO: 1 second the motion. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The motion is made and seconded' 
that the resolution be amended by changing the number on the commit¬ 
tee from three to five. Are there any remarks upon this amendment? 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


95 


MR. WHITE OP OHIO: The reason I offer this amendment is that 
I have endeavored down in Ohio to start this very work for the enact¬ 
ment of such a law, and I have found that where you have a committee 
of three busy business men, that generally two of them are busy some¬ 
where else and they don’t get together and their work lags and I believe 
If we had five we would be able to get three together and they would be a 
quorum and we would get something done. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Well, while I have no objection to this ' 
amendment, I do not feel authorized to accept it. ^ 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Are there any further remarks on 
the amendment by Mr. White? 

MR. HEIGHO OF IDAHO: Mr. President, in reference to the amend¬ 
ment, I have found by experience that where a committee is too large it 
'fails of its purpose for the reason that what is everybody’s business in no¬ 
body’s business.* If I understand the intent of the original resolution, it pro¬ 
vides for a committee of three in each state who will have charge 
of looking after this matter. It does not prevent them from calling upon 
everybody and anybody interested in the mining business to assist them 
in this work. I think where the committee is too large it is apt to be 
true that each member of that committee will depend upon the rest to 
look after the thing and take charge of it, whereas if the committee is 
small, say three, each feels obligated to see that some action is taken. 

I am in favor of restricting it to three. 

MR. RIEPE OF NEVADA: I would suggest, Mr. President, that 
you make it not less than three nor more than five, because I believe with 
the gentleman from Idaho that where there are many there is no head 
or tail, in fact one man in the Legislature, according to my experience— 
they call those people lobbyists, I believe—one man can accomplish more 
than three or five; therefore I would suggest not less than three nor 
more than five, and leave it in the judgment of the different states or 
their representatives as to how many they will have on that committee, 

I do not believe in five myself. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Are there any further remarks upon 
the amendment? 

To which there was no response. 

The Vice President thereupon put the amendment, which was de¬ 
clared lost. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The question is now on the adop¬ 
tion of the resolution. 

The Vice President thereupon put the resolution, -which was de¬ 
clared carfied. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Mr. President, f have the 
honor to report Resolution No. 9, which I will ask the Secretary to read 
and move its adoption. 

The Secretary then read said resolution as follows: 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress respectfully requests 
that the Congress of the United States shall provide by law for the locat¬ 
ing and working of mines of the reserved metals—^gold, silver and quick- 
silrer—on Spanish and Mexican land grants, confirmed by the United 
States Court of private land claims. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The motion is made and seconded 
that the resolution be adopted. Are there any remarks? 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, the cir¬ 
cumstances which call for the adoption of this resolution present an 
anomaly here in the United States, and it is for that reason and,because 
those circumstances are not so general in character as to be within the 
knowledge of most of those present that it seems to me desirable that I 
should say a word. In fact, when before the committee of mines and 



9G 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


mining of the House of Representatives in Washington, representing this 
Congress and the Trans-Mississippi Congress, two or three years ago, I 
spoke of this matter and found that not a single member of-that com¬ 
mittee had any knowledge of the fact that these circumstances existed 
anywhere in the United States. But in the act of Congress which consti¬ 
tuted the court of private land claims, which was to take into considera¬ 
tion and act upon the titles to the Spanish and American land grants ex¬ 
isting in New Mexico and Arizona, it is provided that the three metals, 
gold, silver and quicksilver, shall be reserved to the United States, the 
idea being to follow the Spanish custom under which those grants were 
made, which considered those three metals as royal metals pertaining to 
the King and reserved them in all cases to the King. And so in the case 
of all the land grants, in those two territories, which have been confirmed 
by the court of private land claims, gold, silver and quicksilver are re¬ 
served to the United States. 

Now, those land grants constitute something over a million acres. 
There are some sixty or eighty in number, and the result is that if the 
largest mine in existence of gold or silver were to be discovered on any 
one of those grants, there is no one who can take a single dollar’s worth 
of those metals from the earth. There is no way in which a prospector 
can go there; there is no way in which a “location can be made; there 
is no way in which a title can be secured. The surface has been con¬ 
firmed by the court of private land claims to the claimant under the 
grant, but these three royal metals are reserved. Now, this resolution 
simply asks that the Congress of the United States make some provision 
whereby these minerals may be located either by the owner of the sur¬ 
face or by anyone, under a system similar to that in Mexico, who would 
pay, of course, to the owner of the surface for the damage done to the 
surface; but that under some suitable provisions the Congress act by 
making it possible that these metals may be used. 

That is all there is to it. Of course, it is obvious to everyone that 
the ordinary laws for locations do not apply, because they are confined 
to the public domain of the United States, whereas, this is private prop¬ 
erty, underlaid by these three metals which still are reserved to the 
United States. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Are there any further remarks 
upon this question? Are you ready for the question? 

Question called for. 

The resolution, was thereupon put by the Vice President and declared 
carried unanimously. 

COLONEL DORSEY OP NEBRASKA: Mr. President, I had hoped 
that Mr. Ingalls of New York would be present when this resolution was 
offered, but I can not delay the Congress. I report Resolution No. 2, by 
Mr. Ingalls of New York, and will ask the Secretary to read it. 

The Secretary thereupon read said resolution as follows: 

Whereas, The existing federal law, governing the location of lode 
claims, commonly known as the law of the apex, has been proved to be 
inadequate, and conducive to wasteful litigation; 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress exert its efforts to 
secure the repeal of the existing laws and the substitute therefor of a 
law giving mineral rights within vertical lines. 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress appoint a committee 
of five mining engineers and mine operators to draft a side line law, to 
be presented to the federal Congress; this committee to report at the 
next annual meeting of the American Mining Congress; or if the com¬ 
mittee of mining engineers and' operators appointed by the public lands 
commission sh^ll at the request of the American Mining Congress provide 
such a law, the President of the American Mining Congress is authorized 
to co-op,erate with that committee and place the results of its action 
before the Congress at its next session. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Gentlemen, you have heard the 
reading of the resolution; what will be done with it? 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


9t 


MR. W. E. DORSEY OF NEBRASKA; I move the adoption of this 
resolution. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The motion is made and seconded 
that the resolution as read be adopted. Are there any remarks? 

Question called for. 

The motion was thereupon i)ut by the Vice President and declared 
carried. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA; I have the honor to report a 
resolution introduced by W. R. Ingalls of New York and will ask the 
Secretary to read it. 

The Secretary then read said resolution as follows; 

Whereas, The best interests of the mining industry demand that all 
possible precautions be exercised to preserve the safety of the men en¬ 
gaged in it; and, 

Whereas, The state laws controlling mining operations are in many 
cases defective and there is a frequent disregard of them both by miners 
and operators; 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress place itself on record 
as advocating measures which will insure the maximum safety in mines. 

Resolved, That a committee of five mining engineers and operators 
be appointed by the American Mining Congress tO' draft a uniform law 
governing metalliferous mining and quaiTying in the various states, with 
the view toward securing its general adoption as a substitute for exist¬ 
ing laws, said committee to report at the next annual session of the 
American Mining Congress. 

Resolved, That a committee of five mining engineers and operators 
be appointed to urge upon the states in which coal mining is conducted 
the appointment of a commission to investigate the conditions affecting 
safety in coal mining and secure the co-operation of the national gov¬ 
ernment in such an investigation with a view toward the formulation and 
enforcement of adequate laws governing this branch of the mining 
industry. 

MR. W. E. DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I move the adoption of the 
resolution. 

Motion seconded. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The motion is made and seconded 
that the resolution be adopted as read. Are there any remarks? 

Question called for. 

The motion was thereui)on put by the Vice President and declared 
carried unanimously. 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, a little 
more than nine years have elapsed, as will be seen by reference to the 
table on the first page of our proceedings, since the first Mining Congress 
convened here in the city of Denver. There are very few present here 
to-day who were here then, but those who are present will remember 
that it was the largest meeting of mining men that had ever been held 
or that has since been held in the United States, filling, as it did, to 
overflowing, the Broadway theater, and even the lobbies that were At¬ 
tached thereto. It brought not only delegates from all over our own 
country, but from Europe, from Canada, from Mexico, and from the 
South American Republics. Those who brought about that first meeting, 
which has been followed by the series that have succeeded, did a great 
work for the cause of mining in the United States. There are three 
names that will never be forgotten in connection with that matter, and 
those are the names of Mr. Hunter, Mr. Cornforth and Mr. Mahon. Mr. 
Cornforth is now, as we believe, in far-off Alaska; Mr. Mahon, after 
doing valuable service for this Congress in many places, is now in the 
state of Pennsylvania; but the chairman of the Executive Committee 
who brought together that magnificent Congress and who bore the burden 


OFFICIAl. PROCEEDINGS 




and the heat of the day, is still here in the city (d' Denver. We have come •> 
back this year to the old original home of the Congress. We meet 
again in the city of Denver, and it seems to me only meet and right and 
proper and a duty of recognition which every mining man in the United 
States owes to those who originated this institution that the chairman of 
that committee living here in Denver should, at any rate, be presented 
to the members of this Congress in order that they may see who really 
is the father of the institution. Mr. Robert F. Hunter is jjresent with us 
this afternoon, and I suggest that the President of the Congress introduce 
him to the Congress itself. (Applause.) 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Will Mr. Hunter please step to (he 
I)latforni? 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I am sure it affords me very great 
pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to introduce to you the father of this 
Congress, Mr. Robert Hunter of Denver. 

MR. ROBERT F. HUNTER OF COLORADO: Mr. President, Ladies 
and Gentlemen: I will take but a moment of your time. You have a 
great deal of business on hand. The Chairman’s introduction and Gov¬ 
ernor Prince’s introduction of me as the father of this Congress is not 
exactly right. I am one of them, but if I were to get my proper title, 

I think the word “nurse” would be the nearest one. 

Those of you present remember the time, nine years ago ,when we 
had a crowd of yelpers living in the state of Colorado and city of Denver 
that thought if we had a gold mining congress, we were going to repeat 
the crime of ’73, and we would like to be mobbed for using the word 
“gold.” Our intentiou at the time was to show to the people that the 
best industry and the best business they could go into after the i)anic‘ 
spread over this country in 1893 was to come out West and mine for gold, 
and that was the only object in bringing up the mailer of a gold mining 
convention. But the consensus of opinion at that meeting was that we 
should eliminate the word “gold,” and I think it was wise, and it has done 
all right. There is only one think I would criticize, if 1 may make a 
suggestion, and that is that you have dropjied the word “international.” 
We have had some of the finest men I have ever met from Venezuela, 
Peru, Chili, Mexico, Canada, Denmark, Siiain and France here at our 
first meeting, and I thipk if we had those people still interested with us 
it would be a great help. 

I am glad to meet you all and look you in the face. 

I thank you for your attention. (Applause.) 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I am sure that this is a very great 
pleasure, and we regret exceedingly that the other men who were instru¬ 
mental in organizing the International Mining Congress are not iiresent 
with us to-day. They would certainly be of very great assistance to this 
Congress in the promotion of the work which it has undertaken 

Colonel Ewing has a statement to make with reference to the pres¬ 
ence of one of the gentlemen who were sent for a short time ago, to 
continue the smelter discussion. 

, COLONEL EWING OF CALIFORNIA: Mr. President, 1 have just 
come from Mr. Guiterman’s office, and he will not be present this after¬ 
noon, so that the work of the Congress will not be delayed on account 
of waiting for him or anything of the kind. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I understand that Mr. Guiterman 
expects to leave for Utah some time this afternoon, and he also informed 
certain members of the Congress that he had delayed this tri]) three days 
in order to be present at the meeting this morning. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: That is right. 

.VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I regret very much that he is not 
here, but under the circumstances. I see no way to prevent it. 


C i 
k k. i 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


99 


Now, if there are any further remarks upon the question we had 
under discussion this morning, we will he glad to hear them at this 
time. 

(No response.) 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY; If there are no further remark.^ 
upon this question, we will consider the discussion closed and continue 
with the regular program for the afternoon. 

The first paper on the program is “Recent Litigation Involving Ques¬ 
tions of Damages from Smelter Fumes, Tailings Water and Tailings 
Debris,’’ by Professor F. W. Traphagen, professor of metallurgy of the 
School of Mines of Colorado. Is Professor Traphagen in the hall? 

(No response.) 

If not, we will i)roceed with the reading of the next paper entitled. 
"The Copper Deposits of Washington,’’ by Hon. A. W. McIntyre, former 
governor of Colorado. 

GOVERNOR McINTYRE: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I 
feel inclined to make an apology for taking up the valuable time of this 
body with a matter which seems to be so remote as the consideration 
of the mineral resources of the state of Washington, but for the fact 
that this is an American MiningvCongress, and the welfare of the whole 
is involved in the welfare of the parts, and further, that at the time the 
American Mining Congress was seeking a place for its permanent home, 
the state of Washington did not consider Denver too remote to cast her 
votes for Denver as the home of the Mining Congress. Moreover, I. be¬ 
lieve that among mining men. perhai)s more than among any other class 
of men, there is a sympathy at the beginning. Scarcely any of us are 
young enough here not to know something about the beginnings of a min¬ 
ing region. I shall therefore take up no more of your time in general talk. 
(Applause.) 

Governor McIntyre’s paper will be found in the latter part of this 
report; see index. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: 'Fhe paper is now open for discus¬ 
sion. Are there any remarks on the paper as read? > 

(No response.) 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: If there are no remarks, we will 
turn to the next paper on the ])rogram entitled. “Recent Litigation Involv¬ 
ing Questions of Damages from Smelter Fumes, Tailings, Water and 
Tailings Debris,’’ by Professor Traphagen of the School of Mines of 
Colorado. 

PROF. F. W. TRAPHAGEN OF COLORADO: Mr. President, Ladies 
and Gentlemen: As a preface to my paper I think a few words are 
necessary. In preparing the paper I had in mind especially two important 
l)oints; one was that the two suits that I discuss here are, in a way, still 
unsettled. One is in court, being heard at present; the other has not 
finally been jjassed upon by the federal judge. The findings, however, 
have been made public, and on these accounts, of course, i)articular care 
is necessary in discussing the matter. Another reason is that a great 
many especially interesting points in connection with the suit now in 
the federal court can not be mentioned, because of the fact that they 
constitute part of the defense, and an announcement at this time might 
be entirely premature. Some of the points that are to be brought out 
we rather think will prove somewhat astounding to the plaintiff, and for 
that reason we prefer that those matters come from the witnesses who 
have been wmrking on the different lines. (Applause.) 

Professor Traphagen’s paper will be found in the latter part of this 
report; see index. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY; The paper is now^ open for dis¬ 
cussion. 

MR. .JOHN DERN: When the title of the paper was announced 1 
was very much interested, believing that where evils existed, something 


loo 


OP'FICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


might be suggested which would remedy them. 1 would like to ask the 
professor if, from his investigation, he has come to the conclusion that 
smelter smoke is not detrimental to vegetation or stock-feeding products 
of the fields adjacent to copper smelters. 

PROFESSOR TRAPHAGEN OF COLORADO: 1 might say in answer 
to that question that the only damage to vegetation found was where 
the sulphuric acid had coalesced into drops sufficient to fall upon the 
vegetation in a concentrated form. The damage reported by the botanists 
and the plant pathologists working on the case—I am at liberty to state 
this now because they have given their testimony—was found to be 
merely one that might be called an aesthetic damage. The leaves have 
been affected. And that, I want to say, is within two miles of the stack. 
They are spotted, but the growth of trees almost at the base of the 
stack has been exceptionally good, these trees being set out by the Ana¬ 
conda company as an object lesson. Trees set out two years ago have 
gained extremely well in growth. The turnips raised in the field of the 
Anaconda company, in what is called Walker gulch, at the base of the 
stack, were the finest exhibit in the collection of vegetables at the county 
fair; and I am told, further, that the turnips w,ere the best exhibit at 
the state fair, and had the exhibit been made by a private individual in¬ 
stead of a county, they would have been given the prize. Now, I do not 
want to say that smelter smoke is good for crops. I will go this far, 
however, and say that smelter smoke is good for black alkali soil, and 1 
think I can maintain my point. But certainly the damage to crops in 
Montana has been exceedingly slight. 

Now as to the question of the effect upon animals, the farnieis state 
that the fine dust, which, we must confess, contains some arsenic, although 
the company is recovering about five hundred and fifty tons of arsenic a 
year, still some of it gets out of the stack, they claim that flue dust, or 
the arsenic in it, deposited on the plants, poisoned the stock.. We have 
taken some of the “smoked” cattle purchased from one of the gentlemen 
who claims to be the worst sufferer, placed the same cattle in the slum 
pond fields, where, in addition to getting the dust from the stack, or the 
fumes from the stack, also got the dust from the old works tailings piles 
which carried quite considerable arsenic, and those cattle have made very 
satisfactory gains, There has been no place, I think, in which cattle 
properly fed have suffered—I feel now that I can say what I please about 
this subject because it is not going to become very public—cattle fed 
with hay from these various ranches have never developed chronic ar¬ 
senical poisoning. We have had them carefully watched and studied, 
and the whole work has been gone into most carefully. I can not imagine 
the work to have been done more carefully than it was done. In no case 
has the feeding of those animals developed chronic arsenical poisoning. 
There have been various diseases found in these animals, sudden deaths 
for instance, which have heretofore been attributed to arsenic, but which 
are now known to be due to other causes, and which will be shown to be 
due to other causes, to the satisfaction of everybody—except the plaintiff. 

There was another point I wanted to speak of, too, and that is this— 
that large doses of arsenic have been fed to cattle in the carrying on of 
these experiments, and these large doses—doses that ordinarily 1 would 
have said before this suit was begun, would have been unquestionably 
poisonous—have not developed chronic symptoms, and after carrying on 
the experiment for forty-five days, we concluded it was pretty hard to 
poison horses and cows, and those cattle and horses were turned out 
onto the various ranches where they would get the smoked hay, and 
after a period—some of them were killed, by the way, some immediately 
afterwards and were shown to be practically normal in every respect— 
and in other cases, after the lapse of perhaps two months’ time, others 
were killed, and one of the points that is taken to indicate arsenical poi¬ 
soning, perhaps to a greater extent than any other, is the evidence of 
fatty degeneration shown by microscopic study, which was shown to be 
almost entirely absent in these cases. Another point I want to mehtion 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


101 


is, I don’t believe there is a single expert employed by the Anaconda 
company that went into the case unprejudiced. If there is, 1 have not 
found him. And I think I have talked with every man working on the 
case. I know I was prejudiced and every man I have talked to‘was preju¬ 
diced. They felt that it was only a question of the extent of the damage, 
that there was considerable damage done, that there must be, by that 
great quantity of sulphurous oxide passing out of that stack daily—that, 
of course, there was damage done. Dr. Pearson of Philadelphia was, I 
think, one of the most prejudiced of the whole lot, and I know that after 
his investigation he has become one of the most marked partisans of the 
lot, because, ultimately, we are all partisans. 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, I don’t know what the 
conditions are at Anaconda, but, judging from the remarks referring io 
the paper, it appears to me it has a great deal of similarity to any apex 
suit or anything of that sort. The company that has the most money 
and is able to get the best experts and the most testimony in that line 
will get the verdict. 

I do not believe it is contradicted but what smelter smoke has an 
immense influence and does a great deal of damage, and there is no higher 
ideal for our scientific men and there is no better subject for the School 
of Mines of Colorado, which stands at the very pinnacle in that industry, 
'to take up this proposition and analyze it clearly and devise some remedy 
for it. We in Salt Lake valley deplore very much that the conditions 
exist as they do. We welcome the smelters, we welcome the enterprise, 
we realize the great benefit the state gets from those very smelters, but 
it is a menace, nevertheless, and does a great deal of damage to the 
valley. Our smelters are making every effort in their power to find a 
remedy to prevent the damage which is being done to the stock, to the 
trees, to the foliage and all vegetation. There is a great deal of damage 
done, which is admitted by the fact that the numerous suits which have 
been brought* have all been successful and the smelter companies have 
been compelled to pay damages. One smelter company now realizes this 
condition and is putting its new smelter away out some fifteen or eighteen 
miles from the city, over on the south shore of the lake, away from all 
farming interests, simply because they realize that they must get away 
from a locality which is thickly populated and where there are a great 
deal of crops grown; and as I said before, when the title of the paper 
was announced, I had great hopes that our scientific professor would han¬ 
dle the subject so as to give us some idea as to what steps to take to 
give us the proper relief, and I hope that this matter will be investigated 
by the School of Mines. I think it is a noble object to give the agricul¬ 
tural interests the benefit of their experience. 

SENATOR DE LA VERGNE OF COLORADO: Mr. President, as 
suggested by Mr. Dern, I think the professor has already brought part 
of that solution forward, and I think all the School of Mines would have 
to do—now he has stated that on black alkali soil the smoke is advan¬ 
tageous. Now, all they have got to do is to fix some way in which we can 
put the smoke on the soil and then it will be all right. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Are there any further remarks? 
This is the first agricultural session we have had. If there are no addi¬ 
tional remarks on this very interesting paper, we will take up the next 
address, which is on “The Mining and Mineral Resources of Nevada,” 
by Fred A. Dignowity. (Applause.) 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Dr. Holmes desires to make an an¬ 
nouncement at this time, and with the consent of the Congress, I will 
give him this privilege. 

DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: Mr. President, Ladies and 
Gentlemen: It is not so much an announcement as a statement which 
Mr. Pinchot, head of the forest service, asked me to make in his behalf. 
Mr. Pinchot is greatly interested in doing a lot of work for this Mining 


I02 


OFFICIAJv PROCEEDINGS 


Congress, and expected to be present at this meeting, but was called East 
on important business. 

The point he wanted me to call the attention of the Congress to and 
ask its co-operation is the fact that quite recently there have been quite 
a large number of entries made for mining claims in forest reserves, in 
the vast majority of which cases there is absolutely no evidence whatever 
of any mineral values, but the land happens to be covered with very 
valuable growths of timber. 

Now, these forest reserves are turned over to the Forest Reserve 
Department of the government with two general purposes in view: first, 
the preservation of the water supplies for the agricultural development 
of this great western country; second, for the perpetuation of the timber 
supply for the future as well as the present mining and other industrial 
pifrposes in this country. 

Mr. Pinchot wishes it understood that in carrying out this service 
the forest service will afford every possible facility for the development 
of these mining claims, but it will insist in every possible way that the 
parties desiring timber will use the proper language in making the appli¬ 
cation and not bring discredit upon the mining industry. The govern¬ 
ment is most generous in making it easy for its citizens in the develop¬ 
ment of mineral land. It is already doing much, and we of this Congress 
are asking it to do much more, to help along this industry. I am sure 
the American Mining Congress will cordially approve and support every' 
effort on the part of the government and other mining organizations in 
safeguarding the public interests and this great industry. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I wish to say that all resolutions 
which are intended to come before this Congress should be presented at 
the session to-morrow morning; not later than the opening of the session, 
otherwise they will probably be left without a report from the com¬ 
mittee. 

I also wish to announce that after the close of this session there will 
be a meeting of the Resolutions Committee. 

Members of the Congress who have delivered addresses this after¬ 
noon, or read papers, will please see that those papers are in the hands 
of the Secretary, that they may not be omitted from the proceedings of 
the Congress. 

The Secretary has several announcements to make at this time. 

The Secretary read a telegram from Goldfield, Nevada, inviting the 
American Mining Congress to hold its next session in that city. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: I will also ask the Secretary to 
read a resolution which will be referred to the Resolutions Committee. 

The Secretary read a resolution introduced by Senator H. S. Josephs 
of Utah as a substitute for Resolution No. 5, as follows: 

Resolved, That the President appoint at his convenience a committee 
of five to consider the relations between the ore producers and the 
smelter interests and report on the same at the next session of the Con¬ 
gress, and also report at intervals to the President and Board of Direc¬ 
tors of the Congress if this committee so desires. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I move that we now adjourn 
until to-morrow morning at ten o’clock. 

Motion seconded and carried. 

An adjournment was thereupon taken until October 19, 1906, at ten 
o’clock a. m. 


GENERAL SESSION. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The chairman of the Resolutions Com¬ 
mittee will make his report. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Mr. President, 1 report Reso¬ 
lution No. 13^ and will ask the Secretary to read it. 

The Secretary thereupon read said resolution, as follows: 




AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


lOP. 


Resolved, That the officers of the American Mining Congress respect¬ 
fully suggest to governors of states and territories that when in any 
state which has adopted the law known as the Pardee resolution, charges 
of its violation are made, the governor of the state in which alleged min¬ 
ing properties are claimed to exist, at his discretion may, at the request 
of parties making such charges, authorize the commissioner of mines or 
other appropriate state official, to examine such alleged mining properties 
sufficiently to determine and report on their approximate reality, and the 
state may charge a reasonable fee to cover cost of such examination and 
re])ort, this fee to be paid by the parties requesting such examination. 

MR. W. E. DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I move the adoption of the 
resolution. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Gentlemen, you have heard the resolu¬ 
tion. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. HERRICK OF PENNSYLVANIA: Mr. President and Gentle¬ 
men of the Congress: In supporting this resolution, I wish to make a 
statement that I do so because it seems, under the circumstances, the 
best thing that the Congress can do as a matter of progress. But in sup¬ 
porting it I feel very much in the position of the worthy agriculturalist 
whom I once knew, who started to feed his chickens with a mixture of 
sawdust and milk. He started by using ten per cent, of sawdust, and 
gradually increased it to ninety per cent., and then began to wonder what 
kind of chickens he was going to hatch out. Then he put six eggs under 
a hen, and when the chickens were hatched out, five were woodpeckers 
and the sixth had a wooden leg. 

Now, I feel that this bill that the committee has hatched out has a 
wooden leg. It is not satisfactory to me or to my constituents, and I can 
only support it because it seems to me, under the circumstances, the 
very best thing the committee can do. But I wish to say that we must 
all realize- that this is not a matter that can be done in a minute. This 
educatiton of the public can not be done in one session of this Congress; 
it must proceed slowly; and it seems to me that for a full investigation 
of this subject, in order to carry it into all the ramifications which in 
our work here we have discovered, a committee should be appointed by 
the chair to properly investigate this matter and report upon it at the 
next session of the Congress. I will not offer that as a resolution now, 
because it will not be in order, but the gentleman from Vermont, who 
supports me, will offer that at the proper time. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO; Mr. President, owing to the little 
difficulty in my hearing, I did not fully understand the resolution. I sim¬ 
ply want to ask whether that report that is to be made is as to the facts 
in regard to properties advertised, etc., and possibly I can get a clear 
idea if I may ask the indulgence of the Congress to have the motion read 
again. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Secretary will read the resolution. 

The Secretary again read Resolution No. 13. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: That reading makes it entirely 
satisfactory and I believe the resolution is a step in the right direction. 

MR.* HEIGHO OF IDAHO: Mr. President, in connection with that 
resolution, while I am entirely in sympathy with its apparent purpose, it 
seems to me that in fairness it should be worded a little different. It 
seems to provide that at the request of the parties making the charges 
the governor shall authorize a competent official to investigate the cir¬ 
cumstances. Why should it not provide an equal right to the persons 
against whom the charges are made? For instance, if charges are un¬ 
warranted, why should not the person against whom they are made be 
equally privileged to demand an official investigation? 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Well, he always has that. 


104 


OFFlClAi. PROCEEDINGS 


MR. EDWARDS OF NEW MEXICO: I would like to call attention, 
Mr. President and gentlemen, to the fact that there seems to be an idea 
abroad that in order to have a fraudulent mining company it is necessary 
to have a bogus mine. There are a great many swindles perpetrated on 
mines which will stand successfully the strictest examination, and I pre¬ 
sume all of you here can think of such instances. If I were a swindler, 
I think I would rather have a mine that would stand investigation in 
order to swindle people. I think I could do it a great deal more artis¬ 
tically and gain more dishonest money for myself. I see another objection 
also to the resolution; it is that there are a great number of competent 
persons engaged in the business for their livelihood, of examining mines 
for intending investors, and any one of these is honorable enough and 
competent enough to give as good an opinion as any government official 
who could be found, and I think if the Congress should pass any such 
resolution, it would be in a manner interfering with the livelihood of a 
considerable body of honorable men who are domiciled in the eastern as 
well as the western states. 

MR. SPERRY OF COLORADO: Mr. President, the possibility of 
swindling is just as likely in a good property as in a poor property. 

A MEMBER: More likely. 

MR. SPERRY OF COLORADO: Yes. Now, it is almost impossible 
for us to touch all points in this case. We are now trying to overcome 
the possibility of misrepresentation; that is one line; the other line, 
which is far more complicated, far more complex, would mean to make 
this law cumbersome and almost impossible before we could touch all 
points in the case. I think the resolution that has been submitted covers 
the point that we wish to cover, in that it provides for a competent com¬ 
mittee to go to someone who is officially accredited and to whom we can 
go with the idea that we can have an impartial investigation. Now, as 
to the matter of there being mining engineers who are competent to 
make a report on any proposition, that may be true, and is true, but at 
the same time, these smaller eastern investors have no knowledge what¬ 
ever of these mining engineers, and it is more convenient to them to re¬ 
port it to some person from whom they could be assured of getting in¬ 
formation in an official and reliable way. Now, as to the matter of the 
suggestion made by the gentleman from Idaho, I think it is a good one. 

I have heard the remark made after the suggestion was made that a 
company which was accused of misrepresentation- 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I think you will find that the chairman 
will concede that proposition; that he suggested the amendment. 

MR. SPERRY OF COLORADO: Well, that may be true, but it 
looks to me as though the resolution as presented'will cover the point in¬ 
tended to be covered, and if we go adding to it we will get a resolution 
that will be really too cumbersome if not entirely inoperative. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: It has been suggested to me 
after this debate that the resolution should be amended to read as 
follows: 

“Resolved, That the officers of the American Mining Congress re¬ 
spectfully suggest that the governors of the states and territories that 
when in any state which has adopted the law known as the Pardee resolu¬ 
tion, charges of its violation are made, the governor of the state in which 
the alleged mining properties are claimed to exist, at his discretion, upon 
request, authorize the commissioner of mines or other appropriate state 
official to examine such alleged mining properties sufficiently to deter¬ 
mine and report upon their approximate reality, and the state may charge 
a reasonable fee to cover the cost of such examination and report, this 
fee to be paid by the parties requesting such examination.” 

Does that meet the point you make? 

MR. SPERRY OF COLORADO: Yes. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


105 


COLONEE DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: It is satisfactory, then, as it 
stands now? 

MR. SPERRY OF COLORADO: Yes. ' 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: If there is no further ob¬ 
jection, I will amend it to cover that point in that way. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is no objection to that amend¬ 
ment as suggested by Mr. Heigho of Idaho, it will stand, without motion, 
as the original resolution. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: I just want to say, briefly,'in re¬ 
spect to one of the objections made by the gentleman on the other side, 
that this resolution, as I understand it, only attempts to effect* one thing— 
it is a short step in the right direction. It is true that there are two very 
great questions that we hope to be able to decide some day. One of them 
is that for which I believe our friend Hughes in New York is responsible— 
“What did you do with it?” I think we want to add to that a preliminary 
question as soon as we can—“What are you going to do with it?” and that 
will make conditions so that we may know what was done with it. There 
is in the hands of the Resolutions Committee a resolution which I hope 
will be reported that I hope will take that step or start toward it. I 
would like to ask, however, of the committee, one question in regard to 
this resolution, and that is whether it would be well to amend it just a 
little further by striking out the provision applying it only to the states 
that adopt the law recommended by this Congress known as the Pardee 
law, and leaving it open so that the governor of any state may be re¬ 
quested to do this, whether the Pardee law has been adopted or not. I 
merely ask whether or not that would be practicable. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: We discussed that quite fully 
in the committee. No state save California has a law upon the statute 
books which is applicable to cases of this kind. Now, we are striving to 
have a resolution enacted into law in the different states, and this recom¬ 
mendation to the governors follows after the adoption of that law. There 
is no question but what everj* state has upon its statute books a law for 
the punishment of frauds and that statute could be invoked now if the 
laws permit in that state, but this resolution of Governor Pardee’s goes 
further than any and makes it more explicit, provides a penalty more 
severe than any state now has. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, I believe we might 
discuss this resolution from now until twelve o’clock and we would never 
be able to perfect the resolution, and I therefore move you the previous 
question. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The motion to adopt the resolution just 
read and the previous question has been moved, and that takes a two- 
thirds vote. Are you ready for the question? 

Question called for. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: All in favor of the previous question will 
so signify by saying “aye;” contrary “no.” The ayes have it, and the 
motion is carried. 

(Mr. Daniels of Colorado cast the only negative vote upon the above 
resolution.) 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I want to explain 
my vote. I appreciate the value of our time, but I do not believe you are 
saving time by cutting off any debate that is pertinent to this matter. The 
other day we were cut off from a debate which I believe was important to 
the mining interests, and I was refused to even ask a question because of 
want of time, and then we sat with our hands folded and tried to get 

something to fill out the time. I am always opposed to the previous 

% 


I 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


lUO 


question whenever there is a desire on the part of any member, even 
though he may be a solitary one or in the minority, to speak upon the 
subject. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The question is now on the adoption of 
the resolution. 

The motion was thereupon put by the chairman and declared carried. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Mr. President, I herewith 
submit Resolution No. 21, recommended by the committee as a substitute 
for Resolution No. 4, introduced by Hon. A. W. -McIntyre, which I ask 
the Secretary to read, and move its adoption. 

The Secretary then read said resolution, as follows: 

Whereas, A national and international exposition is to be held at the 
city of Seattle. Washington, between the 1st day of June and the 15th 
day of October, 1909, the primary purpose of which is to make known 
to the world the mineral and other resources of the Alaska and Yukon 
territories in the United States and Canada, and of the Pacific West; 
and, 

Whereas, Said exposition will be beneficial not only to the state of 
Washington and territory of Alaska, and to the mining industry of the 
Pacific West, but to all other states of the American Union in the promo¬ 
tion of the mining industry and development of mineral resources; there¬ 
fore be it 

'Resolved, That the American Mining Congress does hereby commend 
the aims and purposes of said exposition. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is moved and seconded that the reso¬ 
lution just read be adopted. Are you ready for the question? 

GOVERNOR McINTYRE: It is not necessary at this time to make 
a speech upon this question. It is so obvious that Alaska and Yukon and 
the Pacific West stand for mining and mining advancement that nothing 
need be said except as to the spirit of the people that have undertaken 
this great exposition. The people of Alaska are heartily in favor of it. 
The last man I saw in Alaska, old Joe Cornforth (applause),swith tears 
in his eyes said: “A telegram to-day stops me from going to Denver. 
Tell the boys all, God bless them, and do the best you can for the Alaskan 
exposition.” (Applause.) The people of Seattle in a single day raised 
$650,000 for this exposition, although they started out to raise only 
$500,000 on that day. The same people practically pledged themselves to 
raise an additional million, and the Legislature of Washington is ex¬ 
pected to add a million to that. The earnest support of these people 
means the success of this exposition, and all that they ask is the encour¬ 
agement of this great American Mining Congress, which, I believe, unques¬ 
tionably, they will have by the passage of this resolution. (Applause.) 

The resolution was thereupon put by the President and declared car¬ 
ried unanimously. ' 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I have the honor to report 
Resolution No. 15, offered by the Resolutions Committee as a substitute 
for Resolution No. 5, introduced by Senator Josephs of Utah, and move its 
adoption. 

The Secretary then read said resolution, as follows: 

Resolved, That the President appoint, at his convenience, a com¬ 
mittee of five to consider the relations between the ore producers and 
the smelter interests and report on the same to the Congress at its next 
session; and also to report at intervals to the President and Board of 
Directors of the Congress if this committee so desires. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is moved and seconded that the resolu- 
♦ ion just read be adopted. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, if we may judge cor- 
i-ectly from the remarks of Mr. Guiterman, general manager of the 




AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


107 


American Smelting and Refining Company, we must .iudge that they would 
be willing to meet with us on common ground, and discuss the matters 
which came up here yesterday in debate, and it was for this reason that 
I consented to the substitution of this resolution for the resolution which 
was introduced by me calling for an adjustment of the quotations on 
metal, and in order that this may be done well it is necessary that a com¬ 
mittee be appointed by the chair, to be composed of the best talent among 
the mining men in the several states which are interested, and they can 
meet with the representatives of the smelters, not alone the trust, but all 
of the independent smelters who are operating in the different states and 
territories, and discuss these differences which exist between the ore 
producers and the smelting interests. (Applause.) 

Question called for. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion for the adop¬ 
tion of Resolution No. 15. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President arid declared carried. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I report Resolution No. 20, 
a resolution of the committee as substituted for Nos. 16 and 17, intro¬ 
duced by Mr. Jackson. 

The Secretary then read Resolution No. 20, as follows: 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress recognizes the great 
importance of good roads as a means of developing the mining interests 
and the general welfare of the people in all parts of this country. 

It asks the members of the Congress in every state to co-operate with 
this movement for better public highways. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is moved and seconded that the reso¬ 
lution just read be adopted. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. JACKSON OF MAINE: Mr. President, when I came to this 
Congress I had hoped in this aggressive Rocky mountain region to secure 
some resolution which should be definite and positive and helpful. I 
have gone over the matter to some extent with the Resolutions Com¬ 
mittee, and they have substituted for what I desired a resolution which 
is altogether innocent and can do no possible harm. It has, however, 
not the advantage of my friend’s substitute from Pennsylvania—it hasn’t 
even the strength of one wooden leg. But it is, in a measure, a homeo¬ 
pathic dose, and as such I trust it may pass, and shall defer seeking some¬ 
thing more definite and positive and helpful until the next meeting. - 

The motion for the adoption of Resolution No. 20 was then put by the 
President and declared carried. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I wish to report Resolution 
No. 8, introduced by Mr. Colburn, and ask the Secretary to read it. 

The Secretary then read said resolution, as follows: 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress in its ninth annual 
session assembled recommends that the Legislatures of the several 
precious metal mining states shall enact laws making it a criminal 
offense punishable by both fine and imprisonment for any smelter, mill, 
sampler or any person or persons handling, dealing in, or buying ore, to 
mix, discolor, disguise, or in any way destroy the identity of a lot of ore 
before its value has been determined and settlement agreed upon be¬ 
tween the seller and the buyer. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I move the adoption of the 
resolution. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is moved and seconded that the resolu- 
tirn just read be adopted. Are you ready for the question? 

Question called for. 

The motion was then put by the President and declared carried 
unanimously. 


108 


oFFiciAT. procp:edings 


COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: 1 report Resolution No. 18, 
introduced by Mr. Ingalls of Nevada, which I will ask the Secretary to 
read, and I move its adoption. 

The Secretary then read said resolution as follows: 

Whereas, In the acts of Congress granting lands to the Pacific rail¬ 
roads, there was a distinct provision excepting from the operation of 
the grant all mineral lands excei^t coal and iron lands; and. 

Whereas, In spite of said exception and reservation, large areas of 
government lands, containing gold, silver and other metals have been, 
through fraud, mistake or carelessness, patented to the different Pacific 
railroads; now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, by the American Mining Congress, That the legal depart¬ 
ment of the United States be requested, without delay, to institute ac¬ 
tions to set aside and cancel all such patents that may have been issued 
to such Pacific railroads within six (6) years last past and therefore not 
covered by the statute of limitations for such proceedings. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was then put by the President and declared carried. 

COLONEL DORSEY OP NEBRASKA: Resolution No. 8, by Mr. Pat¬ 
rick of Ohio, was withdrawn by Mr. Patrick; also Resolution No. 11, by 
Mr. F. Wallace of Ohio was covered more fully by Resolution No. 1 
passed by the Congress. Resolution No. 6, by Mr. G. W. Riter of Utah, 
the subject matter of the same being covered by Resolution No. 2, by 
Mr. Ingalls of New York, Mr. Riter expressed his satisfaction and that 
will lie upon the table with the others. 

I offer Resolution No. 19 at this time from the Committee on Resolu¬ 
tions, and will ask the Secretary to read it, and will move its adoption. 
The Secretary then read said resolution, as follows: 

Whereas, The citizens of the city of Denver have fulfilled all of the 
engagements made at El Paso, Texas, and the members of this Congress 
have been received with western enthusiasm and hospitality; 

Resolved, That members and delegates of the ninth annual session 
of the American Mining Congress hereby express their appreciation of 
the efforts of the citizens of Denver and return thanks for the courtesies 
extended; be it further 

Resolved, That thanks of this Congress be and are hereby extended 
to the Denver & Rio Grande Railway Company, the Colorado Midland 
Railway Company, the Midland Terminal Railway Company, the Cripple 
Creek. Short Line and the Colorado and Southern railway for courtesies 
extended to Cripple Creek and return; and be it further 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress be and are hereby ex¬ 
tended to the citizens of Cripple Creek for their kind invitation to visit 
and receive the hospitality of their city; be it further 

Resolved, That the thanks of this Congress be extended to the press 
of the city of Denver for its uniform courtesies, its equal justice and the 
aid it has given to the work in connection with this Congress; and be 
it further 

Resolved, That a copy of this resolution be furnished to the mayor 
of the City of Denver, the Chamber of Commerce and the Brown Palace 
hotel for the courtesies received. 

Motion seconded. 

The Secretary: I desire to suggest an amendment to that resolution. 
The citizens of Cripple Creek and Victor should both be mentioned. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I accept that,amendment from 
the Secretary. That was an oversight on the part of Mr. Mills, I am sure. 

THE SECRETARY: I will then change it to read “Victor and Crip¬ 
ple Creek.” 

The resolution was then put by the President and declared carried 
unanimously. 

MR. CLARK OF VERMONT: Mr. President, I ask leave to introduce 
this resolution, which I will ask the Secretary to read. 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


109 


The Secretary then read said resolution, as follows; 

Resolved, That a committee of five members be appointed by the 
President of this Congress for the purpose of devising and demonstrating 
methods for preventing fraudulent mining schemes, and report the same 
to the Secretary of this Congress eight weeks before the meeting of its 
next session, who shall mail such report to each member of this Congress 
at least three weeks before its next session. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The resolution will be referred to the 
committee. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Gentlemen of the Congress, 
Mr. Clark of Vermont has introduced a resolution here that has just been 
read and has asked me to move a suspension of the rules and consider this 
resolution at this time by this Congress. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion for suspending the rules was thereupon put by the Presi¬ 
dent and declared carried. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I now move the adoption of 
the resolution as read. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was then put by the President and declared carried. 

THE SECRETARY: I have a resolution introduced by Senator De 
Lavergne of Colorado, which I will read: 

Whereas, The discussion upon the smelter question has brought out 
the fact that many differences exist as to the mutual relations and dif¬ 
ferences between the smelters and the ore producer; and 

Whereas, It seems advisable that these questions should be solved 
with a full knowledge of the facts involved, now, therefore, be it 

Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed, charged with the 
duty of investigating as fully as may be the difference which exists, the 
justice of the claims on each side of the various controversies, and to rec¬ 
ommend such remedies as may seem to them advisable, such committee 
to report to to the Board of Directors of the American Mining Congress 
at the earliest time possible. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I would like to have this 
resolution passed by all means, but it seems to be covered by resolution 
No. 15, which was substituted for No. 5, which was introduced before any 
knowledge was had of this resolution by Senator De Lavergne. I would 
like to see the resolution go through under a suspension of the rules, 
but it would conflict with or be part and parcel of the other resolution, so 
I move that the rules be suspended and that this resolution be considered 
as part and parcel, with the proper credit to Senator De Lavergne, of reso¬ 
lution No. 15, because this calls for three and the other calls for flve 
members of the committee. In justice to Senator De Lavergne, I desire 
to do that. Not to refer it to the committee at all, but that the rules be 
suspended and this resolution passed under a suspension of the rules and 
made part and parcel of resolution No. 15, as it covers the same ground. 

DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA; Then why pass the same 
resolution if the ground has already been covered? 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: 1 would like to have Senator De Lavergne 
have in fact all of the credit for this motion. It was his paper that in¬ 
stigated all of this discussion. 

f 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I second the motion for a sus¬ 
pension of the rules. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is moved and seconded that the rules 
))e suspended as applying to this motion and that the body now consider 
it. Are you ready for the question. 

Question called for. 

The motion was then put by the President and declared carried. 


OFFlCIAi. PROCEEDINGS 


110 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The motion now is that we adopt this 
resolution and that it be considered as a part of the resolution already 
adopted applying to that question. 

A MEMBER: 1 would like to have the Secretary read resolution 
No. 15. 

The secretary then read said resolution, as follows: 

“Resolved, That the President appoint, at his convenience, a commit¬ 
tee of five to consider the relations between the ore producer and smelter 
interests and report on the same at the next session of the Congress, and 
also report at intervals to the President and board of directors of the Con¬ 
gress if this committee so desires.” 

MR. RIEPE OP NEVADA: It seems to me one of those ought to be 
withdrawn or substituted for the other, as I believe we can not pass two. 
One is sufficient, and I believe one ought to be withdrawn and this one 
substituted for the other or the other for this. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I flesire at this time to withdraw my mo¬ 
tion respecting this resolution, with the express understanding that I 
desire to do justice and give credit. I believe that to that gentleman 
alone is due all credit for what this Congress may accomplish on this 
most important question—Senator De Lavergne. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Is there any objection to the withdrawal 
of the motion which has just been made to adopt this resolution? If 
I hear none, it will be withdrawn. Mr. .losephs, is that your motion? 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Yes sir. 

DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: At the request of the sub¬ 
committee of the committee on resolutions, we ask unanimous consent 
to introduce a resolution to be referred back immediately to the com¬ 
mittee on resolutions. This resolution is prepared with a request that it 
be authorized to go immediately to the committee on resolutions and then 
be reported back to the Congress if that course is approved. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Read it. 

DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: 1 will read the resolution. 
It is as follows: 

Resolved, That the American Mining Congress commends the action 
of the President and the other officers of the federal governemnt in 
conserving and protecting the coal and other public lands. It commends 
the efforts of the government in preventing frauds in the taking up or 
patenting of mining claims, or frauds in the obtaining of agricultural pat¬ 
ents to mineral land^ grants whether on the public domain or within the 
areas embraced by land grants whether on the public land grants wherein 
the minerals have been reserved to the government of the United States, 
or in the correction and punishment of such frauds already committed; 
and the President and the Board of Directors of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress are hereby authorized lo receive and transmit to the legal depart¬ 
ment of the government requests and data bearing on such frauds, or al¬ 
leged frauds, as may be submitted to them by the members of the Con¬ 
gress. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: 1 move that the rules be suspended 
at this time and that that motion be taken un for consideration by the 
Congress. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: it is moved and seconded that the rules 
be suspended as to the resolution just read by Dr. Holmes, and that this 
body now consider that resolution directly. Are you ready for the ques¬ 
tion? 

Question called for. 

The motion was then put by the President and declared carried. 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Ill 


PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Th.e question is now upon the adoption 
of the resolution just read. Are you ready for the question? 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: 1 move the adoption of the ::esolu- 
tion as read. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It is moved and seconded that the resolu¬ 
tion just read by Dr. Holmes be adopted. Are you ready for the question? 

Question called for. 

CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President,, 
that is one of the most important resolutions that has b3en adopted, and 
I would like to say that I would like to add an amendment, but I am not 
going to do it, and that is, that each honest miner take a winchester 
out there and do business like we used to do it in The olden times. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared carried 
unanimously. 

MISS CLARK OF MONTANA: Mr. President. I would like to say 
in regard to the resolution of thanks to the railroads, that we also add in 
that resolution the thanks of this Congress to the Colorado State School 
of Mines for the invitation to attend the Guggenheim dedication. I think 
that should be added to that resolution of thanks. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: 1 am very sure that had this 
matter been called to the attention of the committee on resolutions we 
would Lave included the Colorado State School of Mines, and if Mis.? 
Clark will make a motion to that effect I will gladly second it. 

MISS CLARK OF’' MONTANA: 1 will make a motion to that elfect. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that we 
include in the resolutions of thanks the State School of Mines of Colorado 
for their kind invitation to attend the dedicatory exercises in conn-eclion 
with the Guggenheim hall. Are you ready for the question? 

Question called for. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared cairied 
unanimously. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The State School of Mines will ue in¬ 
cluded in the resolution. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: That is ab at present from 
the committee on resolutions. 

THE SECRETARY: I have a telegram which I desire to read, and 
I will state before reading it that this same telegram, but in different 
wording, from the same man, expressing the same ideas, has been re¬ 
ceived at a number of previous annual sessions of the Congress. 

Vancouver, Wash., Oct. 18. 1906.—American Mining Congress. Denver: 
Health and prosperity. Success to all. Perseverance will win. 

JOHN CLEARY. Prospector. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The next order of business is the 
question pertaining to your wishes relative to the selection of the 
place for holding the annual session of this Congress in 1907. To make it 
clear on that point, the by-laws provide that the board shall select that 
place. However, it is the custom for the members to express their wishes 
upon that question, so that the board may act in accordance with .vour 
desires. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF' UTAH: Mr. President, I desire to make a motion 
that it be the sense of this Congress that it recommend to the board of 
directors that the next jjlace for holding the annual session of this Con¬ 
gress shall be Douglas, Arizona. (A])i)lause.) 


J12 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


MR. RIEPE OF NEVADA: I would rather the states should be called 
in their order as to the alphabet. There are other places, and therefore 
1 move you that the states be called in order. 

Motion seconded. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: It has been moved and seconded that it 
is the desire of the members of this Congress that we hold the next 
session in 1907 at Douglas, Arizona. Are you ready for the question? 

MR. W. S. WARD OF COLORADO: Might I suggest the propriety of 
having some other name presented to the Congress- 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Well, let us not be too hasty. There are 
other places, I understand, that desire to be i)laced in nomination on this 
matter. 

MR. RIEPE OF NEVADA: Mr. President, I only want to say a few 
words. I am going to nominate a state of opportuntity, a state of won¬ 
ders, a state which says, “Don’t knock, come in;” a state, as my dear 
old friend Goodwin calls it, “The wonders of Nevada are beginning to 
astonish the world.” Now, if there is any consideration to be given be¬ 
sides the financial world in the land, I call on the American Mining Con¬ 
gress. Our state, I am happy to say, can do more for this mining Con¬ 
gress, I claim, than any state in the Union at the present time. Our state, 
if you do come, will show you the wonders of the world, the grand ar- 
royas of the Comstock, and the second one never so far was found. I also 
will state about the financial condition, that I happened to be in Goldfield 
in the early part of the spring when thirty thousand dollars w'as sub¬ 
scribed in the towm of Goldfield—of course, for a fight—but how much 
more will be subscribed for the American' Mining Congress. Our state 
produces new camps, you might say, almost over night sleeping, and they 
are growing like mushrooms. We have the Wonder, we have the Red 
Mountain, we have the Manhattan and all of the different camps. 

That is Goldfield, Nevada, a three year old camp, producing thirty 
millions a year. Now, I assure you, Mr. President, if you do come to the 
state of Nevada, members and delegates of this Congress, we extend a 
warm hand of reception to you. There won’t be such a cold chill as w^e 
experienced at this time. The hand of the true w^esterner, the hand of the 
true Nevadan, will be given you, and no stone will be unturned to make 
it pleasant for you, ladies and gentlemen. That is all. 

MR. E. A. COLBURN OF COLORADO: Mr. President, ladies and 
gentlemen: I heard the invitation from Goldfield read yesterdaj'^, and im¬ 
mediately made the remark that I wonder whether they want to get all the 
Colorado mining people out there so as to kill us all at once. Two years 
ago—and I speak with some feeling upon this topic, because it comes di¬ 
rectly home—I sent two men over to Nevada, this wonderful land of won¬ 
derful wealth, hoping thereby to get a little of it myself and for a company 
which I represented. One of those individuals sent was my son, my 
youngest boy. He was there three days in this town which has now sent 
this invitation for us to come and partake of iheir hospitality. He was 
there just three days when, one evening, a man stepped up to him and says, 
“I would like to speak to you.” He was standing on the sidewalk, and he 
foolishly turned out and stepped down off the sidewalk, and as he glanced 
over his shoulders he saw three men behind him and was surrounded by 
twenty men with hats drawn over their eyes. They said: “March, come 
with us!” And he marched. A man—I will not say a gentleman—a villain 
slipped his arm through his right arm, and another through his left, and 
took him right along. This was just at dusk in the evening. They took 
him out about two miles from Goldfield. In the meantime the gentleman 
who was with him found out what had been done and he followed them. 
He remonstrated with those people, telling them they had gotten hold 
of the wrong individual, and that they had no business treating him in 
that kind of way, and that they were there for the purpose of investment, 
and so on, urging business reasons, etc. They said, “You just keep still, 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


lU 

sir, or if you don’t we will take you along, too.” Now, what they said to 
that boy during that little march would hardly bear repeating before this 
audience, or any other audience—and what they—:here comes the boy 
now. I call your attention to him—what they said to him would hardly 
bear repeating. I had been so fortunate as to be president of the Mine 
Owners’ Association of the Cripple Creek district and also of the State 
Mine Owners’ Association, and they extended an invitation at that time 
for me to come to Goldfield, Nevada, with the statement that I would not 
get off quite so easily as the young ma'n was getting off if he kept his face 
toward Tonopah. I will not go into details, but the gentlemen’s facetious 
remarks, based somewhat on truth—I mean as to the truth of Nevada— 
lead me to say what I say now. I see before me my successor as presi¬ 
dent of the Mine Owners’ Association, who was later in Goldfield engaged 
not only in mining but in supplying that wonderful town with one of tne 
necessaries of life. He was assaulted about half past ten o’clock in the 
night and, miraculously, he escaped with his life. Now, these actions 
were on the part of men, it is true, who at one time may have been in the 
state of Colorado, but for reasons of health don’t stay here any longer. 
They are there to-day. They are found in every camp in Nevada to-day. 
They dominate as to wages, they dominate as to who shall work upon 
your mines, and what assurance have the members of this Mining Con¬ 
gress w'ho do not agree with that class of men, who have raised their 
hands against them because they are men who have no respect for the 
laws of God or man—what assurance have we that we will be protected 
if we accept this generous invitation? I say, Mr. President, that I can not 
help but speak with feeling upon this subject. There are two things 
about which we are all sensitive. One is our pocketbook and the other is 
our personal safety. I v/ould like to hear from this gentleman as to what 
this invitation means—whether w'e are to be subjected to the assaults of 
these assassins who have placed upon our heads a price and carried it 
there for years, or whether we are to go there to try to take care of those 
people and make decent citizens of them. As I say, gentlemen. I wmuld 
not allude to this matter were it not that I feel so deeply the situation in 
which we are placed. 1 have property in Nevada to-day, in various towns 
in Nevada. Now, do any of you suppose for an instant that I can go there 
with safety? Do any of you suppose that Mr. J. F. Campbell can go there 
v.dth safety? We are spotted by these identical men whom you harbor and 
whom you support and make no effort whatever on the face of the earth, 
so far as we know, to get rid of. (Applause.) That being the case, you 
can appreciate the fact that when it comes to a vote I never will vote 
to place myself in Nevada voluntarily. I am not going to take any 
chances of going there and coming out in a box. 

MR. H. H. GREGG OF MISSOURI: Mr. President and delegates of 
the Congress: On an occasion of this kind it is to be expected there shall 
be some speech-making in presenting the claims of localities for the se¬ 
lection of the next session of this Congress. We of course had 
provided for that, or at least thought we had provided for it, inasmuch 
as my relative, your townsman, Judge Belford, had agreed to appear and 
present the claims of Missouri in this convention. His failure to be here 
has thrown me personally into great confusion, and I am sorry for the 
disappointment of this Congress. 

The Missouri delegation, Mr. President, is a delegation simply from 
the mining district of Joplin. The reason for that is that through some 
change of secretaryships in our Commercial Club this matter was lost 
sight of. So little time was given us that w'e could scarcely muster up 
the Joplin delegation, 1 can assure you, however, that what Joplin asks 
and promises in this matter will be supported by the state of Missouri. 
Your Joplin delegation has been quite busy, conspicuously busy, though 
we hope not offensively busy, in bringing to the attention of 
this Congress the right of that section of the country as a mining dis¬ 
trict to claim a place on the mining map of this country. We have not, 
l)erhai)s, been less active in the canvass we have made to secure the selec- 


114 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


tion of the town of Joplin for the next session of this Congress. And yet, 
Mr. President, we do not expect that the mere wish of oiir people that 
yon shall come there will prevail entirely in influencing the judgment of 
these delegates. But to me, since I have come to this Congress and into 
Denver, and since 1 have heard the resolutions read in this Congress and 
the discussions thereon, it seems there is a strong argument why the tak¬ 
ing of this Congress out of this mining district or mountain district, at 
least, at this time, would be to the advantage of this Congress. There 
are two important, paramount considerations before this Congress at this 
period; first to obtain from the general government a larger recognition 
of the mining industry of this country, that to be obtained through the es¬ 
tablishment of a department of the government in regulation of it; the 
second is that there shall be provided in all states such legislation as will 
prevent the fraud and misrepresentation that has brought the mining in¬ 
dustry so largely into discredit. Now, as to the first matter, if it remains 
in the minds of the people—and from my knowledge of this matter it does 
largely prevail—that this Congress is established in the interests of the 
mining of precious metals and that its territory is praciically confined to 
this mining region, if you ask of the government the establishment of 
this deiiartment, and if you ask for a cabinet officer in the cabinet of the 
President of these United States, it must be a movement upon the part of 
this whole country. It can not be successful if you simply ask in the in¬ 
terest of the mining of precious metals that such department be created. 

I take it that it is as important that the coal industry, the zinc industry 
of my section, the mining—because it is mining—of coal and gas and all 
those things be considered, and this movement should be comprehensive 
of the mining industry of the whole nation—it should be a national move¬ 
ment. And to that end I think your Congress will move from here and 
go eastward as far as Missouri, from there eastward next, if it is to be 
held to be an advantage, that the welfare of this Congress and the success 
of the movements in which this Congress is enlisted will be very much en¬ 
hanced. The same argument holds true with reference to the second 
proposition, that if you want the enactment of this law against fraud it 
must be a general one. You must interest all of the states in it, and to 
that end the moving of your Congress or the holding of its sessions 
throughout the entire country must inure to the advantage of the Con¬ 
gress and the welfare of the entire industry. 

Now, I have no thought of making a speech. I simply deplore the 
condition that my friend and relative. Judge Belford, is not here to speak 
for us, because he is said to be of silver tongue. It is intimated to us that 
in order to get this Congress we should do certain things. It has been 
intimated that if we would pledge to this Congress the sum of three 
thousand dollars or greatly increase the membership of this Congress, 
that that, would be a tempting proposition. I am here speaking for the 
people of Joplin, speaking for the Joplin Commercial Club, to say that 
we will do that, and in addition to that we promise you such entertain¬ 
ment as a generous and hospitable people can accord to you. You are not 

• going to a barren country. The county of Jasper, in which is situated the 
town of Joplin, is one of the wealthiest, most productive counties in the 
United States. It is said, and I believe, that the products sold from that 

^ county in agriculture and mining exceeds that of any county in the United 

* States. If you go there—and we very much hoi)3 you will go there—you 
go to a town of a population of more than forty thousand people; you go 
to a town where, if the hotel facilities and accommodations are not equal 
to those of Denver, they closely approach them. We have now in the 
course of construction in Joplin a hotel that will cost in the neighborhood 
of six hundred thousand dollars. We have existing there now two or 
three hotels of large capacity. In addition to this we have as fine an elec¬ 
tric system, urban and interurban, as is to be found anywhere in the coun¬ 
try, one system owning and operating in excess of forty miles of road. 
Our mines are so situated surrounding this town that a ride of a quarter 
of an hour will take you into any part of the mining camp. Now, our min¬ 
ing there is perhaps insignificant in comparison with yours; that is, the 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


115 


production trom any one mine is a mere bagatelle in comparison willi 
yours, and yet the aggregate production there, as you will see by the plac¬ 
ard on the wall, last year was in excess of thirteen, million dollars, and we 
believe this year will exceed fifteen million dollars and in the course of 
the last twelve years the production of new money in that country 
through mining is, in round numbers, one hundred millions of dollars. 
Mr. President, I have but to say to this Congress that it will be a severe 
disappointment if the next session of the Congress is not held in the town 
of Joplin. We ask it because it will do us good and, reciprocally, 1 think 
it will do this Congress equally much good. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I do not think Missouri needs to borrow 
any oratory from Colorado at all. 

MR. WHITE OF OHIO.: Mr. President, members and delegates of 
this Congress: I arise to second the motion that this Congress go to 
Joplin, Missouri, next year. I know something about Joplin. I have been 
there, and have a good, deal of money invested down there. The gentleman 
has said a good deal about Joplin, but he has ndt said something, though 
he is from Joplin, that I would like to say, and that is that yon can go 
down to Joplin, Missouri, and in three hours I can show you more mines 
than any other spot on the face of the earth can show you. Over three 
hundred and fifty mines in operation. It is a sight that you can not see 
anywhere on earth, a sight that it will do this body good to go and see. 

Now, there is a second thought I had in mind in seconding this mo¬ 
tion and why I want this Congress to go to Joplin next year, and that is 
just a part of what the gentleman has said, to get away from the moun¬ 
tain region and get down East among the fellows who have got the money 
and get acquainted with them. I said something about this two years 
ago at Portland, that this Congress should go East and get more members 
of the kind that have the money and want to spend it. I said at that time, 
as the President has said in a remark he made about not raising money 
for this mining temple, that I would then give a thousand dollars toward 
it, and I have been prevented from giving the money because they didn’t 
want it, but 1 have told the Secretary that it is ready any time, and more 
with it (applause), and a part of that money comes from Joplin, Missouri, 
and if you will go down there I believe Joplin, Missouri, will show you 
that they can make good every promise they have made, and I second the 
motion. 

MR. KING OF CONNECTICUT: Mr. President, members and dele¬ 
gates to the American Mining Congress: In begging the privilege of sec¬ 
onding the motion of the gentleman from Missouri, I want to express the 
feeling of the i)eople in my section regarding the business of mining, re¬ 
garding the power and influence which the American Mining Congress 
has and can have in this great industry. Without the money of the East 
we all recognize that active mining operations would be comparatively 
few:. We feel just one thing in regard to the placing of eastern money 
in western enterprises—that all we w^ant is a good, square business deal. 
We do not ask anything more. We are willing and expect to take the 
usual risks that attend the average business investment, but I do feel 
that if this Congress, at its next session, shall be held at a point a little 
nearer the eastern man who produces the funds, he will be more largely 
represented. It has been a matter of very great regret to myself, and 1 
think also to the gentleman who has had the honor to represent one or twu) 
of the other states—the New' England states in particular—that we alone 
stood as representatiyes when we knew' from our experience at home that 
a large percentage of our people were directly interested in mining as 
an investment, and we knew from our experience and observation that 
they had quite as proper a place as delegates and members in this body 
as any who have heretofore been identified with it, and i( is my important 
purpose, in returning to my section, to so place before those w'ith whom 
I come in contact the advantages of this organization and the advantages 
to them of their co-operation through it, that the membership will be in- 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


111; 

creased to a considerable extent by eastern people who, as I have shown 
you, are directly interested in the business of mining, and I trust that 
whether it be Joplin or some other equally convenient point—I see no bet¬ 
ter—that the decision of the board of directors will be based upon the idea 
that mining concerns every state and every section of the United States. 

COLONEL THOMAS EWING OF CALIFORNIA: Mr. President, la¬ 
dies and gentlemen: As a member of this organization, and not as a 
member of the board of directors, I want to second the nomination of Jop¬ 
lin, Missouri. We have an able member of our board of directors from 
Joplin, Dr. E. R. Buckley, who has been with us from the formation of 
the Congress. The first life member of this Congress is Dr. Buckley. I 
want to say to you that there has been so much said about taking the 
Congress to those western towns and places—Goldfield, etc., and I am an 
old citizen of Nevada, and helped to make that a state before the discov¬ 
ery of these new fields, and in the old times when the Comstock was great, 
that we have heard so much about here. Everybody knows the product 
of that state, and it is advertised all over the world now as a great pro¬ 
ducing state, and it does not need the influence of this Congress nearly 
so much and could not advance its interests nearly so much in reality as 
to take it farther east. What we want is the great coal mining people 
and the oil mining people of the country east of us here to take just as 
^nuch interest in this Congress as we of the Rocky mountains. I have 
climbed these Rocky mountains all over. We have been dealing with this 
Rocky mountain question for years in this Congress, and we are glad to 
bring it back here and deal v.ith it again on a new basis when the time 
comes, but if you are going to take it away from its headquarters and 
move it to different towns you will bring in new blood and new life, and 
1 will say, with Mr. King of Connecticut, who has been telling us about 
this membedship from Connecticut and New Jersey and all those places 
where the mosquitoes thrive so, about increasing this membership, that 
we have not seen any increase. I would be an advocate of taking it 
down into this mining region of Missouri. I believe in taking it down to 
Joplin, where they have so kindly offered to furnish us two hundred mem¬ 
bers from their grandest men—mining men. Stop and consider what two 
hundred members means to this Congress. If you obtain two hundred 
new members of this Congress you have an income to this Congress of 
five thousand dollars. Now you talk about increasing your membership, 
let us see all the people who want this increase. No doubt if you could 
take it out to Nevada you could raise a thousand members, but it is a 
new place to take it to. I also want to say for'my friend Josephs that I 
hold in my pocket a letter from Arizona, of which I am a representative 
on this fioor (from Arizona as well as from California). I want to tell you, 
though, that Arizona declines it. Arizona don’t want it. I hope to see 
this as a member; I am not now acting as a director—and I shall vote 
to take it down to Joplin. 

MR. PATRICK OF OHIO: Mr. President, I want to indorse the 
remarks of the gentleman from Joplin and of my associate delegate from 
Ohio, and bring it east. But I want to say to you here that two years 
from now the daughters and the sons that you see here who come from 
Ohio and the East are going to be invited to come to Ohio. (Applause.) 
If we get this law through pertaining to mines and the mining industry 
gets its department at Washington, we have got to have the support of the 
senators from the eastern states. You can get that better, gentlemen, 
by coming east and getting the senators into your Congress. Let them 
come and see you. Let them come and talk with you. And that is the 
way in which we will get this bill passed by Congress to create a depart-' 
ment of mines and mining. 

GOV. MclNTYRE OF WASHINGTON: Mr. President, as the man 
who will probably travel farthest to Joplin next year to the American 
Mining Congress, I second the nomination of Joplin, Missouri. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


117 


MR. FRANK H. COONEY OF MONTANA: Mr. President, I desire to 
second the nomination of Goldfield, Nevada. Nevada is attracting more 
attention in the mining world to-day than any other state in the Union, 
and I say it is a good thing, let ns push it along. I certainly wish to take 
exceptions to this gentleman from Colorado in his attack on Nevada and 
particularly on Goldfield. While I am not from Goldfield, and neve^’ was 
there, yet people in glass house should not throw stones, and I think his 
remarks were very unkind at this time. I appreciate the feeling of a 
father for.his son, but I stop to consider the feelings of the mothers and 
children that were left in Cripple Creek. Let the dead rest. It should not 
be brought up at this meeting. Attacks of that kind should not come be¬ 
fore this Congress. But I think it is the duty of the members of this Con¬ 
gress to hold the next meeting of the Congress in Goldfield, in a state that 
is doing more to further the mining industry of the country than'any 
other state in the Union, and I respectfully ask the support of the mem¬ 
bers of this Congress for the town of Goldfield, Nevada. 

MR, J. L. WEAVER OF IDAHO: Mr. President, it is just the time of 
day when everybody would rather be crossing their feet under the table 
than listening to speeches on the location of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress. But in reference to Nevada, no one knows more forcibly than I do 
the force of the remarks made by the judge over here, and no one knows 
better than I do the force of the remarks made by the young man, that 
this matter should be left entirely out of the Congress, I spent most of 
my time in the last three years in New York City, and 1 believe, as is ex¬ 
pressed by many members of the Congress, that there can be very much 
more good done in the way of advancing the interests of the Congress 
and of the mining affairs of this country by going even farther east, and 
I would favor a meeting of this Congress at any time in the city of New 
York; and so far as the resolutions we have passed' concerning mining 
frauds are concerned, I do not believe we could meet at any more appro¬ 
priate place than old Trinity church and correct some of the frauds at 
numbers 5 and 10 Wall street that are there thicker than the black bugs 
in Australia. 

MR. GOODSELL OF ILLINOIS: I regret, Mr. President and gentle- 
men of the Congress, that I can not bring to you an invitation for you to 
come to Chicago next time. 1 only regret that. But inasmuch as that is 
*^he case, I wish to add my second to the nomination of the city of Jop¬ 
lin, Missouri. 

MR. C. P. OVERFIELD OF UTAH: Mr. President, ladies and gen¬ 
tlemen: Some of the delegates from Utah took up some time ago the 
question as to where the next Congress should be held, and we decided 
it would be a question of decided expediency at this time to send the Con¬ 
gress away from what are known as the mining states, and Joplin has 
done very much work in this convention, and on behalf of Utah I most cor¬ 
dially second the nomination of Joplin, Missouri. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I introduced the original 
resolution that Douglas, Arizona, be the next place for the annual session 
of the American Mining Congress; but apparently, from the number of 
seconds for Joplin, Missouri, it appears that we all want to go where we 
can get the money. The gentleman from Connecticut and other gentlemen 
have so ably extolled the virtues of Joplin, Missouri, to get the money. 
Now, this whole matter with me—and as far as I am concerned I will say 
I do not believe they will allow me in Missouri; I am qnder a ban there by 
reason of a legislative inquiry of two years ago- 

A MEMBER: I will go on your bond. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Well, I am not a fugitive from justice 
yet. But, as I said yesterday, I believe in fair play and a square deal. Now 
this Congress believes in a square deal; they believe that every pledge 
they make ought to be carried out. When they start in to say that they 
were going to accomplish things they are going to carry them out. When 



118 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


they stated in their prospectus during the last summer that they were 
going to treat the smelter proposition and going to meet it and going to 
treat the question of mining frauds and meet that question, they kept that 
pledge, and they have met it and have devised ways and means to further 
the resolutions they have adopted here. Now, at the meeting a year ago in 
El Paso a great many of the members pledged themselves to have the , 
next meeting in the territory of Arizona. Are you going to break that j 
pledge? I say, no. You gentlemen who were there at that meeting 
and gave that pledge are in duty bound to make good that pledge. Now, 

I was requested by Mr. Bell of Arizona to read before the convention his 
reasons why Douglas, Arizona, should be chosen as the next meeting place 
of the Congress. Owing to his voice not being in good trim he asked me 
to read it, 

‘MR. GREGG OF MISSOURI: Mr. Josephs, will you let me ask you a 
question. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Certainly. 

MR, GREGG OF MISSOURI: These pledges from El Paso, are they 
from the board of directors of this organization? 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I am going to touch upon that. 

MR. GREGG OF MISSOURI: Well, on the square deal proposition, 
could a convention of last year at El Paso pledge this, a new convention, 
in that way. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: No, but the individual members of the 
convention and the vote that they pledged, I want to know whether the 
board of directors will adopt the recommendations of this Congress, be¬ 
cause Colonel Ewing is a member of the board of directors and has sec¬ 
onded the nomination of Joplin. 

COLONEL THOMAS EWING OF CALIFORNIA: As a member. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I understand, but you will have to be 
consistent. Colonel. My friend Dern from Utah told me he would vote 
for Joplin, thinking it was the most logical place. He is a director, Mr. 

C. M. Shannon of Arizona, but who happens to address his letter from Los 
Angeles, as the resident manager for some large concern there, is also a 
director. Dr. Buckley of Missouri, who desires the Congress held at 
Joplin, is also a director. Now we started out with the proposition that 
four directors out of the nine were against us, and Mr. Colburn of Colo¬ 
rado. So that we are up against that proposition. Now, we are going 
into the fight—certainly I am not going to fight very hard, because I didn’t 
start early enough—but we are going into the fight with the odds against 
us. We are going to see if we can not change the minds of these directors 
and at the same time get the Congress to recommend by a vote of its 
members—and I believe the directors will do pretty nearly what the Con¬ 
gress wants them to do—by their vote to change it to Douglas, Arizona. 

1 will read from Mr, Bell’s paper: 

In reference to the question, where will be held the next American 
Mining Congress? Would like to suggest the name of a town fully cap¬ 
able of handling every feature necessary to make the meeting of the Con¬ 
gress a big success, both socially and in a business way. True, it is a 
young town, having a population of 10,000, but its accommodations are ex¬ 
cellent and has no fear of caring for all who might attend. 

The place I refer to is Douglas, Arizona, the great copper district, 
whose output in 1905 according to United States statistics was 236,000,000 
lbs. and which has been excelled this year, for the report to date for 1906 ' 
has passed the 300,000,000 mark. 

Douglas, Arizona, is in close touch with Bisbee, Tombstone, Morenci, 
Globe, Jerome, Prescott, Phoenix and other well known mining camps of 
Arizona. It is the gateway to Mexico, being only twenty-five miles from 
Naco, another port of entrance, therefore easily accessible to important 
points in Mexico, namely,-Cananea. Nacozari, etc. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


119 


It is easy to believe that great interest will be manifested, if the Con¬ 
gress should meet there, when you consider that very near the entire pop¬ 
ulation of Arizona is engaged in mining. , 

Douglas is tributary to a vast country of undeveloped minerals of all 
classes, and the district in which is it situated comes second in ore pro¬ 
duction, and within its boundaries is the second largest reduction works 
in the United.States, 

For the benefit of the mining machinery manufacturers will state 
that Arizona is one of the greatest fields for that portion of the mining 
industry, owning to the variety of ore for reduction, etc. 

Considering all these points, I think that Douglas, Arizona, is THE 
place to hold the American Mining Congress for 1907. 

If you remember that last year a large delegation, representing Arizo- 
zona, was present at the El Paso meeting, and succeeded in obtaining 
the unanimous vote to hold the 1906 Congress in Phoenix, Arizona. 

Am I right, Mr, Gifford? 

MR. GIFFORD OF TEXAS: Yes, and succeeded in securing the 
unanimous vote to that. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: 1 would like to make a correction there, 
because I don’t want the audience to be misled. The question came up in 
the afternoon about half past four or five o’clock when all of the dele¬ 
gates had left except Arizona, California, Texas and New Mexico. 
(Laughter.) When that came up I suggested to them thaf I did not think 
it was quite a square deal and that it would be the part of wisdom to wait 
until everyone had a voice, but they insisted upon adopting it, and in that 
way they got a unanimous vote. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: It would not have reflected very much 
credit on the other delegates to have left until the question was settled, 
but the people of Arizona possibly deserve credit for seeing it through to 
a finish, and that is what they are going to do here to-day. 

“The next day that action was rescinded on account of a pledge and 
it was, finally decided in favor of Denver, with the understanding that 
for 1907, Arizona, for asking, could secure the holding of the Congress 
in their territory that year, and for that end 1 am here to present and 
ask this body for that privilege. 

“Douglas will welcome you and leave nothing undone to make you 
feel that you were entertained as you never were before.” 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: In fairness to Arizona, I will say that the 
next morning the question arose—of course there was considerable indig¬ 
nation, as many thought snap judgment had been taken upon them, and 
a resolution was introduced commending me very highly for the work I 
had done, and many pretty nice things were said and very vociferous ap¬ 
plause given, and I said, “Now, gentlemen, if you think I am a man of 
such remarkable wisdom you will listen to what 1 say. We want to lay 
the foundation for this mining temple at its home, and we need legislation 
there, and it you will let us hold it this present year in Colorado I think 
we can lay that foundation, and then so far as my influence goes I shall 
certainly appreciate your courtesy and extend whatever influence I have 
in your favor,” and they courteously withdrew that question, reconsidered 
it and voted in favor of Denver, and that is how we came up here. 1 
think that is in favor of Arizona. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I am merely giving you the ideas now of 
some other men: 

“In fact, we will endeavor and strive to outclass them all in that 
feature, and I know we can—just give us a chance.” 

Now, Mr. Chairman, in this connection, I want to state that next year 
is going to be the most important year this Congress has ever had. It is 
going to be the tenth anniversary, and I believe that by that time we will 
have accomplished a great deal of good in the different states and terri¬ 
tories of the Union, and it may be by that time we will have succeeded 


120 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


in changing the attitude of the National Congress in regard to the depart¬ 
ment of mines and mining, and we will be ready then for entertainment, 
which these gentlemen have so generously offered to us, and it can be 
made a jubilee year, and I know that these gentlemen would try to out¬ 
strip every one in making us as comfortable and giving us their hospital¬ 
ity to the fullest extent. 

“It is due Arizona—last year it was voted Arizona. It was pledged to 
Arizona for 1907 if given to Denver this year, and I therefore trust you 
will stand by your statement and elect that the next meeting of the 
American Mining Congress will be held in Douglas, Arizona.” 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President and gentlemen of the 
Congress: I shall only make a very few remarks. I had not intended to 
take any part in the discussion or in seconding the nomination of any par¬ 
ticular locality, but inasmuch as my young colleague here has inferred 
that I am for Joplin, Missouri, as one of the directors, my friend Colonel 
Ewing another, and Dr. Buckley another one, and he thinks it is a plan 
already agreed upon that Joplin has our next meeting, that it would be 
hardly fair for us to express our views on the subject. Yet I believe as an 
individual director we have a right to express our views on the matter. 
As far as I am concerned, I was not at the Congress a year ago, owing to 
my absence from the United States, so there are no pledges which I have 
made that I would violate by voting for any other locality. But as a direc¬ 
tor of this Congress 1 always consider what is for the best interests of the 
Congress. I am earnest in that matter, because I have been with you from 
the very beginning, and from the different places which have been named 
it is my best judgment that Joplin is the most logical and the best point 
named for this Congress, and for that reason I want to second the nomina¬ 
tion of Joplin. If the majority even of those present jiere who have— 
and I guess every delegate has a right to vote on this, and not only mem¬ 
bers decide on some other locality, I as one—and naturally it would apply 
to all the rest of them—as a director will credit the wishes of the Con¬ 
gress. If you wish to go to Goldfield or Dongles, we naturally will make 
arrangements to hold it there, but if a majority decide to go to Joplin, we 
will simply make it Joplin. Now, I want to say one more word, and that 
is this: I really abhor the idea of some speakers making it appear that 
we are hunting for the money. We have a nobler organization than that. 
It is a matter of principle with us. It is not a matter of dollars. And 
whenever we consider a question of that kind let us put it on some higher 
ground, but leave the matter of money out of it altogether. 

MISS CLARK OF MONTANA: Mr. President, I would like to say 
that the gentleman from Nevada, in stating what Nevada could do for us, 
said it was the only state in the Union that could outclass all others in 
entertaining this Congress next year, and if that is a fact, I think that 
will leave Missouri and any of the other states out of the question. But 
it happens that Arizona is not a state, and I think that they deserve the 
credit. Last year at the Congress they received the vote to have it in 
Arizona and it was the general opinion of the people that .if they asked 
for it for 1907 we should have the meeting there. As far as the money 
question is concerned, as Mr. Deni has just said, we are not after the 
money, and the people from the East with their large amounts of money, 
when they put in a thousand or several thousand dollars into the West 
they expect to take ten or twelve times as much out of the West and 
take it East to enjou it (applause), while the miners of the W^est and the 
prospectors of the West will spend their strength and their time, and 
money, if they have it, in developing the country of the West, and’ they 
will stay with the western country, and if they make a million dollars 
in a mine they will turn around and put it all into another mine in the 
West. They don’t go East and spend it in enjoyment. So I think the 
question of getting the eastern capital and eastern money has not been 
for the development of the western country. They are doing it for their 
own pockets. And while in an indirect way it helps to develop the West, 
at the same time it is not done for that purpose, and I think that Arizona, 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


121 


as long as it was conceded that way, and as far as promises were made 
them, promises of money and members and all that, if we went there 
this year, I think next year, as they have said, they would double that. 
And that is what we want. And as for Douglas, Arizona, entertaining, 
w'e all know, who were there last year, that they know how to entertain. 
I don’t know of any excursion or any trip—I haven’t heard anyone say 
that they have ever had a better time or seen more to their advantage in 
a business way than we had in Douglas, Arizona, when we were enter¬ 
tained there last year, and I for one would like to state that I hope this 
Congress will go to Arizona. Our friend from Nevada, Mr. Riepe, I think 
has been put in a hard position this morning by having a telegram from 
Nevada inviting the people to Goldfield. I think we could be amply pro¬ 
tected there all right. 1 for one am not afraid to go. Mr. Riepe showed 
yesterday afternoon that he was capable of taking care of this Congress, 
and he will take care of us if we go to Goldfield. But the first day I 
was here I had a Joplin badge on. But Mr. Riepe gave me a good sermon 
on the idea of my wearing a Joplin badge when I w^as at El Paso at the 
meeting, and practically promised to help to vote for Arizona if they 
should ask for it, and I said: “I have not seen any representatives 
here,” and he said a man from Missouri had tried to pin a Joplin badge 
on him . and he wouldn’t have it because he felt his duty was towards 
Arizona, and so I think of course he has to stand up for his own state, 
and since they sent that telegram here he feels that he should have made 
a talk for Nevada. At the same time, I think when it comes right down 
to it, he would vote for Arizona. 

DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentle¬ 
men: It may be a trifle out of place for me to make any remarks upon 
this matter which is before the Congress. I simply desire to make one 
statement, which I think will be borne out by my friend, Dr. Holmes, 
that at the Deadwood convention the state of Missouri extended to this 
Congress an invitation to hold its next meeting in St. Louis. We urged 
upon them the advisability of holding the Congress in that city, and if 
it comes to a matter of promises or a matter of agreements made tacitly 
between the members of the Congress and any state in the Union, I think 
we can call up ancient history and claim for Missouri the promise made 
in Deadwood. (Applause.) 

MR. RIEPE OF NEVADA: I shall treat with silent contempt the 
aspersions cast upon the state of Nevada by my friend from Colorado. 
We have a state of law and order, and as to my lady friend from Mon¬ 
tana, she has my sincere thanks. Now, at our last session in El Paso— 
and I believe I have a right to talk, and I am talking to you directors and 
not alone to the members and delegates of this convention—when that 
snap judgment was taken in El Paso on Thursday afternoon, I forget the 
date, the vote was, I believe, seventeen and twenty-two. These men 
went to the Arizona delegation the following morning, which my friend, 
Mr. Dorsey knows, and I went to a man by the name of J. P. Fuller, and 
I said: “Mr. Fuller, you are a prospector, and if you vote for the re¬ 
consideration of this Congress in Phoenix, I will second the motion.” He 
did so, and I was also the man who introduced the resolution of thanks 
for the Honorable President. That gave him a show to come on the plat¬ 
form. Now, then, it was promised that Denver would do so and so. Den¬ 
ver had two men with fifty thousand dollars each. We promised, at 
least I did, and all the delegates—my lady friend bears me out already, 
as well as you, Mr. President, and some of you directors—you made that 
moral and positive promise that Arizona or some place in Arizona should 
be the next place. Now, then, my own position was that I was here for 
three days a single-handed man from Nevada, which you all know. Here 
two or three came in. Now I call on you, Mr. President and all you mem¬ 
bers. Now, Mr. President, they sent me this dispatch. If we c^n not get 
the Congress, then I say to you, Mr. President, and to some of the direc¬ 
tors and to all you delegates who were in El Paso, you are morally 
bound, you are in honor bound, to say Arizona. Then, Mr, President, if 


122 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Nevada can not get it, then I withdraw the name of the state of Nevada 
in favor of Arizona. There is my position right there, and there is the 
only one, as far as these remarks are concerned. 

MR. McCarthy of south Dakota: Mr. President, I was not 
at that meeting that the gentleman referred to that was held in the city 
of Deadwood in the Black Hills, hut 1 am here to redeem any pledge the 
city of Deadwood made at that time towards holding the Congress in Mis¬ 
souri. I will second the nomination of Joplin, Missouri. 

COL. W. P. FIFE OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, Liidies and Gen¬ 
tlemen: I would like to say this, sir, that I look at everything from a 
cold business standpoint. The entire West knows what mining is; the 
East does not know, to a very great extent at least. There is not a sen¬ 
ator, there is not a congressman, either Republican or Democratic, of the 
western states, but what I believe to-day would do anything in his power 
to carry out every desire, every wish, of the American Mining Congress. 
There might be, and no doubt is, quite a large number in the East that 
might be opposed to it, and I believe the best thing this Congress can 
possibly do is to do away with any pledges that might have been made 
last year. That was one convention; this is another. What we want 
to do is to go East and convert these congressmen and these senators, 
and I second the selection of Joplin, Missouri. 

MR. COONEY OF MONTANA: I would like to know if the gentle¬ 
man from Nevada has withdrawn the name of Goldfield. 

MR. RIEPE OF NEVADA: 1 would like to have a vote on it first. 

(Laughter.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Goldfield has been withdrawn provided 
you vote on it first. The question now is, there have been three places 
presented. We now have letters and telegrams here which the Secretary 
will read relative to other points. It will take but a moment. 

THE SECRETARY: I have telegrams and invitations from all of the 
authorities at Norfolk, Virginia, inviting the American Mining Congress 
to hold its next session there. They are too voluminous to be read, I 
think, at this time. 

We have an invitation from the Chicago Commercial Association, and 
it is followed up by the statement that in C3se their invitation is not 
accepted, they will begin at once a campaign to secure the convention 
for 1908. 

We also have an invitation from Saginaw, Michigan, to hold the 1907 

convention in that city. 

> 

MR. OVERFIELD OF UTAH: Mr. President, I move that for the 
written invitations we have received the Secretary be instructed to write 
to the various parties expressing the thanks of this Congress and saying 
that we consider it inexpedient at the present time to accept them. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared carried. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: How do you wish to vote on these three 
l)laces that have been suggested? 

MR. RIEPE OP NEVADA: I would suggest that we vote on them 
by states. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Taking them in the order of nomination, 
Douglas, Arizona, will be the first one. Now, I think it is due to the 
delegation from Arizona for the chair to make this statement. After 
they had carried the motion to take it to Phoenix, Arizona, at the solicita¬ 
tion of the President of this Congress, they kindly reconsidered and gave 
us the session at Denver. That is a fair statement of the matter, and I 
stated at that time that, so far as my influence went, I would certainly 
be in favor of Arizona if they desired it during the coming year. So that 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


123 


is du6 to Aiizona. Ih© question recurs on the question of Douglas Ari¬ 
zona. We will vote upon that first. 

^ The question was thereupon put by the President as to the selection 
ot Douglas, Arizona, and a rising vote resulted in twenty-two yeas. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Goldfield, Nevada, is next. 

A rising vote was then taken as to the selection of Goldfield Nevada, 
resulting in two yeas. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The next is Joplin, Missouri. 

A rising vote was then taken, resulting in sixty-three yeas. 

HEIGHO op OHIO: Mr. President, I move that the Secretary 
be instructed to cast the unanimous ballot of this Congress in favor of 
Joplin, Missouri. 

Motion seconded. 

Thq motion was then put by the President and declared carried 
unanimously. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: If there is nothing further, a recess will 
be in order. 

A MEMBER: I move that we take a recess until 3 o’clock p. m. 

The motion was then put by the President and declared carried. 

A recess was then taken until 3 o’clock p. m. 


DENVER, COLORADO, OCTOBER 19, 1906. 

3 O’clock P. M. 

The Congress was called to order by President Richards. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: What is your further pleasure, gentle¬ 
men? We have nothing on the Secretary’s desk. Has the chairman of 
the Resolutions Committee any further resolutions to report? 

DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: While waiting for the chair¬ 
man of that committee, Mr. President, there is one resolution which was 
presented by the sub-committee and acted upon directly by the Congress, 
which, upon further consideration, needs, in our judgment, a slight 
change, and I would therefore like to ask the unanimous consent of the 
Congress to read this resolution and the proposed amendment. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Dr. Holmes finds, upon investigation, that 
a correction seems necessary in this resolution and asks the unanimous 
consent to present that for your consideration at this time. There being 
no objection. Dr. Holmes will read the resolution. 

DR. HOLMES OF NORTH CAROLINA: The resolution reads as 
follows: 

“That the American Mining Congress commends the efforts of the 
President and other officers of the federal government in conserving and 
protecting government lands and the efforts of the government in pre¬ 
venting frauds in the taking up and patenting of mining claims, or frauds 
in obtaining agricultural patents to mineral lands, whether on the public 
domain or within the areas embraced by land grants where the minerals 
have been reserved by the government of the United States, or in the 
correction and punishment of such frauds as may have already been com¬ 
mitted. And the President and Board of Directors of the American Min¬ 
ing Congress are hereby authorized to receive and transmit to the legal 
officers of the government requests and data bearing on such frauds or 
alleged fraiuls as may be submitted to them by the members of this Con¬ 
gress.’’ 

There is simply a slight change in the wording at the request of the 
introducer of the original resolution, Mr. Ingalls of Nevada, so as to in¬ 
clude also that particular case. 



124 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: I would like to .suggest the words “and 
coal” after the word “mineral,” beqause the President has lately investi¬ 
gated some alleged frauds in the state of Utah and withdrawn from 
entry all the coal lands, and I would suggest that the word “and coal” 
come after the word “mineral.” 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: There is no objection on the 
part of the committee. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The committee accepts the amendment. 
If there is no objection to it, it will stand as amended. 

Are there any other matters that you wish to bring up before ad¬ 
journment? 

MR. C. J. DOWNEY OF COLORADO: I would like to ask Colonel 
Dorsey, as chairman of the Committee on Resolutions, about a, resolu¬ 
tion of my own introduced a day or two ago. I rather suspect that it has 
been supplanted by a resolution introduced here this morning and adopted. 
I don’t know whether it was the intention of the committee to supplant 
my resolution by that resolution or not, but I think so, and I want to 
find out if it was the resolution that was introduced by the gentleman 
from Vermont relating to the appointment of a committee of five to inves¬ 
tigate the subject of frauds during the next year and report to the next 
session of the Congress. Am I right in that? 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: That is correct, yes, and I 
reported your resolution to lie on the table from the fact that it was cov¬ 
ered by other resolutions that had been passed. 

MR. DOWNEY OF COLORADO: I simply want to say that in pre¬ 
senting my resolution I was a little bit more specific, probably, than I 
should have been; that is, in limiting the scope of the purposes of the 
committee of five to be appointed, and with that understanding I am per¬ 
fectly satisfied. 

COLONEL DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: Yes. I think you were not 
here at the time it was reported. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The new Board of Directors held a meet¬ 
ing just before this meeting, at which they organized, electing the same 
President, myself, for the coming year (applause). Colonel Ewing as First 
Vice President (applause). Dr. Buckley as Second Vice President (ap¬ 
plause), and Judge Colburn as Third Vice President (applause), and Mr. 
Callbreath as Secretary (applause). Under our financial system we 
simply require that all money paid into the Mining Congress goes through 
one bank and can only be drawn out on the order of the President, coun¬ 
tersigned by the Secretary, on the order of the Board, so that in that way 
we have no Treasurer nor any bonds to be required. Another thing that 
is somewhat important that the Board has acted upon is this: The life 
membership brings us in a fund of $100 for each life member. We con¬ 
template making that a permanent fund for this Congress, and the Board 
has ordered that -all moneys received for life memberships hereafter be 
placed in that special fund directly, and as speedily as the general fund 
will permit, that we take from that fund and place in this special fund all 
moneys received from life members heretofore, and that will be a con¬ 
tinuing fund for the future use of this Congress and will become a posi¬ 
tive, and, we think, a very large fund, continuously growing and augment¬ 
ing from the income we anticipate from that source hereafter, and it will 
be quite an inducement for men to become life members when they know 
that is going to be a continuing fund through the years for this Congress. 

A MEMBER: May I ask how many life members there are in this 
Congress at the present time? 

THE SECRETARY: Something like thirty. A little less than that, 
I (hink. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


125 


DR. BUCKLEY OF MISSOURI: Mr. President, I would like the privi¬ 
lege at this time of having the Secretary read two telegrams which have 
been received by Mr. Gregory of Joplin. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Just to complete my report, there was 
another matter I wish to state. The Board appointed a committee to 
raise a fund of $10,000 to meet the necessary expenses in bringing prop¬ 
erly before the federal Congress of the United States the question of 
the creation of a Department of Mines and Mining. We anticipate they 
will have no trouble in raising that fund, and a suitable committee will 
be appointed to look after that work, as we think that is one of the most 
important steps at the present time for this Congress. 

You will also be pleased to know that we carried out your wishes as 
you expressed them in selecting Joplin as the next place of meeting. 
(Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further matters to be con¬ 
sidered before we adjourn? 

MR. ANDERSON OF FORT COLLINS: Mr. President, may I say 
one word in regard to the Commercial Club? The Commercial Club of 
the state meets Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at Fort Collins. Your 
President has appointed the Vice Presipent to represent him there, and 
as president of the Chamber of Commerce of Port Collins I want to invite 
you all to come that possibly can’to meet with the Commercial Club at 
Fort Collins. We will extend a hearty welcome to you all and the latch¬ 
string will hang out. (Applause). 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further matters now before 
we adjourn. 

COLONEL EWING OF CALIFORNIA: Mr. President, I move that 
this Congress now adjourn sine die. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared carried. 

The Congress then adjouimed sine die. 


Minutes of Special Meeting 

of the Members of 

The American Mining Congress 

Held at Denver, Colorado 
May 24, 1906 


A special meeting of the members of the American Mining Congress 
was held at the Chamber of Commerce Building, Denver, Colorado, May 
24th, 1906, at 8 o’clock p. m., said meeting being called in accordance with 
resolution of the Board of Directors duly adopted on April 3, 1906. 

Following is a copy of the notice of said meeting, together with letter 
accompanying said notice, which notice and letter were mailed to the 
last given postofRce address of each and.every member of the organization, 
more than thirty days prior to the date of said meeting. 

Call for Meeting of the Members of The American Mining Congress, and 

Notice of Amendment to By-Laws by the Board of Directors. 

In accordance with Article XIV or the By-laws of the American Min¬ 
ing Congress, notice is hereby given that the following amendments and 
substitutions are offered for the consideration of the Mining Congress, to 
be voted upon at a special meeting of the membership, hereby called to 
meet at the Chamber of Commerce Building, Denver, Colorado, May 24, 
1906, at 8 o’clock p. m.; 

That Section 1 of Article III. be amended by striking out the words 
“five dollars,’’ in line four of said section, and inserting in lieu thereof the 
words “fifteen dollars;’’ and that the words “two dollars,’’ in the seventh 
line of said section be stricken out and the words “ten dollars’’ inserted 
in lieu thereof, so that the said section when amended shall read as fol¬ 
lows: 

ARTICLE III. 

Membership. 

Section 1. Any person actively associated with mining, who, after his 
application has been approved by the Committee on Membership, shall pay 
an initiation fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00), shall become an active member 
of this Congress, and thereafter he shall pay in advance an annual fee of 
ten dollars ($10.00), and during the term for which said dues have been 
paid shall be entitled to all rights and privileges usual to members. No 
member shall be permitted to vote, nor to enjoy the privileges of this 
organization until his dues have been paid for the current year, and all 
votes shall be cast in person, except as may be otherwise provided. 

That Article V. be amended by striking out the words “five dollars’’ 
in the third line and inserting in lieu thereof the words “fifteen dollars;’’ 
ihat the words “two dollars’’ in line four be stricken out and the words 
“ten dollars’’ inserted in lieu thereof; and that the words “associate mem¬ 
bers, annual dues of one dollar, and delegates nothing,’’ be stricken out, 
so that the said section, when amended, shall read as follows: 

ARTICLE V. 

Dues. 

Life members shall pay a fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00); mem¬ 
bers an initiation fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00), and annual dues of ten 
dollars ($10.00). 

That section 3 of Article VI. be stricken out and the following be sub¬ 
stituted in lieu thereof: 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


127 


ARTICLE VI. 

Section 3. For the purpose of facilitating the selection of Directors, 
there shall be elected at the annual meeting of the members, a committee 
of five members to be known as a Nominating Committee, whose duty 
it shall be to present to the members for their consideration the names of 
such persons as such committee may deem advisable to act as directors 
for the ensuing year. 

Also that the following section be added thereto, to be known as sec¬ 
tion 4 thereof; 

Section 4. The Board of Directors shall annually elect three of their 
number who shall together constitute an Executive Committee, which shall 
be a part of the permanent organization of the Congress, and which shall 
in the interim between meetings of the Board of Directors exercise all the 
powers of that Board in accordance with the general policy of the organi¬ 
zation. 

Meetings of the Executive Committee may be held at any time. A 
majority of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum. 
The executive committee shaH keep a record of all its acts and report same 
to the Board of Directors, such record to become a part of the records of 
this Congress. 

That Article IX shall be amended by expunging section 1 and insert¬ 
ing in lieu thereof, the following: 

ARTICLE IX. 

Elections. 

Section 1. The Directors shall be elected at the Annual Meeting of the 
members. In the election of the Directors each state or territory shall be 
entitled to cast ten votes and one additional vote for each fifty members 
in good standing, residing within such state or territory; provided, how¬ 
ever, that no votes shall be cast by proxy and that no state shall be per¬ 
mitted to cast more votes than the number of members from such state 
liresent at such Annual Session. 

That Article XII. shall be stricken out and the following shall be in¬ 
serted in lieu thereof; 

ARTICLE XII. 

Time and Place of Holding Annual Meetings. 

Section 1. The time and place of holding the annual session shall be 
determined by the Board of Directors. 

Section 2., The time and place of holding the annual meeting of mem¬ 
bers shall be determined by the Board of Directors. 

That Article XIV shall be amended by expunging same and inserting 
in lieu thereof the following: 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Amendments. 

These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members 
present, notice in writing containing the proposed amendment having been 
mailed *by the Secretary to each member at his last given postoffice ad¬ 
dress, at least thirty days prior to the date of voting thereon. 

The American Mining Congress, Office of the Secretary, Denver, Colorado, 
April 23, 190H. To the Members of the American Mining Congress: 

With reference to the proposed amendments to the by-laws of the 
American Mining Congress. I desire to present to you a few statements as 
to the reasons which have impelled the Board of Directors in submitting 
for your action the proposed amendments. 

In the inception of the American Mining Congress, each delegate who 
nttended the Annual Sessions was assessed $5.00 per year, in addition to 
which the different cities in which the annual conventions were held were 
required to pay in advance the sum of $3,000.00 for the purpose of paying 
the expenses of the preliminary work necessary in arranging for the con¬ 
vention. At that time no work was supposed to be done except that con¬ 
nected with the Annual Session. 


128 


OFFICJ AI. PROCEEDINGS 


Ill 1903 the Board of Directors of the organization, believing that a 
permanent national organization was desirable, incorporated under the 
name of The American Mining Congress, fixing the admission fee at $5.00 
and the annual dues at $2.00, not then anticipating that anything should 
be done except the holding of Annual Sessions. Eater it was found that 
the need of a force continually at work for the development of the mining 
industry and the protection of its various interests was not only important 
but necessary, and, therefore, it was proposed to establish permanent head¬ 
quarters, to create'therein a commercial exhibit of the ores of the whole 
country, to establish a complete mining library, and, in fact, to create a 
practical school of mining in which enterprising investors could be directed 
into proper channels, and receive that information which is common to 
practical mining men but which has heretofore been denied to the ordinary 
investor in mining enterprises, a lack of which has generally brought dis¬ 
aster to such investors. 

These plans have been an evolution, but as the need for this new work 
has been made apparent, it has also become apparent that additional means 
must be created for the support of such an institution and the payment of 
its expenses. 

It has also been thought desirable to eliminate entirely the delegate 
system and make this an organization of members only, who could come 
together in a business way for the purpose of discussion and action upon 
those lines which they may find desirable or necessary. 

In order to maintain the service above outlined, a largely increased 
expense will be necessary. It is proposed that the various mining camps 
which will receive the benefits of the exhibit of specimens, will pay their 
share of the necessary expense by maintaining a certain number of mem¬ 
berships in proportion to the space which they may desire to occupy, and 
that a competent man thoroughly familiar with both the theoretical and 
practical sides of mining shall be placed in charge, to the end that all in¬ 
quirers may receive reliable and practical information. 

Our Directors after a great deal of discussion have arrived at the con¬ 
clusion that to increase the dues as provided by the proposed amendment, 
will be sufficient to meet these expenses, and it is hoped that our members 
will agree with us as to the necessity for this increase and will cheerfully 
vote to put it into effect. It is hoped that the expense of membership as 
thus proposed will not be so large as to deter any responsible mining man 
from joining the organization, and that it will be so high as to preclude 
the admission of such as are not proper members of such an organization; 
and also that this will realize a fund which will eventually pay for the 
maintenance of the Mining Temple, for the construction of which plans 
are now under way. It is believed that the regular income of the organi¬ 
zation from its admission fees and dues will be sufficient to maintain for 
the Mining Congress a handsome building, ownership in which will be a 
matter of pride to every member of the American Mining Congress. 

This organization will be entirely unable to carry out the plans pro¬ 
jected unless the increase in the dues proposed is approved and it is 
hoped that all will cheerfully record their votes in favor of such an in¬ 
crease as will put the American Mining Congress upon a paying basis and 
make it a self-respecting and efficient organization. 

You are earnestly requested to be present at this meeting. 

By order of the Board of Directors, 

.IAS. E. CALLBREATH. .7R.. Secretary. 

A lunch had been prepared, after which the meeting was called to 
order by President Richards, and a short address was delivered by Sena¬ 
tor E. M. De LaVergne of Colorado Springs, which was received with ap¬ 
plause. Professor Victor C. Alderson of Golden, Colorado, then made a 
short address, after which the Secretary read the Call for the meeting. 
The Secretary stated that a quorum, being more than ten per cent, of the 
total membership, was present. 

It was moved and seconded that Section 1, of Article III., be amended 
by striking out the words “five dollars,” in line four of said section, and 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


129 


inserting in lieu thereof the words “fifteen dollars,” and that the words 
“two dollars,’ ’in the seventh line of said section be stricken out and the 
words “ten dollars” inserted in lieu thereof, so that the said section when 
amended shall read as follows: 

ARTICLE III. 

Membership. 

Section 1. Any person actively associated with mining, who, after his 
application has been approved by the Committee on Membership, shall 
pay an initiation fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00), shall become an active 
member^ of this Congress, and thereafter he shall pay in advance an an¬ 
nual fee of ten dollars ($10.00), and during the term for which said dues 
have been paid shall be entitled to all rights and privileges usual to mem¬ 
bers. No member shall be permitted to vote, nor to enjoy the privileges 
of this organization until his dues have been paid for the current year, 
and all votes shall be cast in person, except as may be otherwise provided. 

After considerable discussion participated in by Mr. L. Bradford Prince 
of New Mexico, in opposition to the motion, and by President Richards, 
Colonel Thomas Ewing, Hon. E. A. Colburn, W. P. R. Mills and Secretary 
Callbreath, the motion was adopted, Mr. Prince alone voting in the nega¬ 
tive. 

It was moved and seconded that Article V be amended by striking out 
the words “five dollars” in the third line and inserting in lieu thereof the 
words “fifteen dollars”; that the words “two dollars” in line four be 
stricken out and the words “ten dollars” inserted in lieu thereof; and 
that the words “associate members, annual dues of one dollar, and dele¬ 
gates nothing,” be stricken out, so that the said section, when amended, 
shall read as follows: 

ARTICLE V. 

Dues. 

Life members shall pay a fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00); mem- 
.bers an initiation fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00), and annual dues of ten 
dollars ($10.00). 

The motion was adopted. 

It was moved and seconded that Section III. of Article VI. be stricken 
out and the following be substituted in lieu thereof: 

ARTICLE VI. 

Section 3. For the purpose of .facilitating the selection of Directors, 
there shall be elected at the annual meeting of the members, a committee 
of five members to be known as a Nominating Committee, whose duty it 
shall be to present to the members for their consideration the names of 
such persons as such committee may deem advisable to act as directors 
for the ensuing year. 

The motion was adopted. 

It was moved and seconded that the following section be added to Arti¬ 
cle VI., to be known as section 4 thereof: 

Section 4. The Board of Directors shall annually elect three of their 
number who shall together constitute an Executive Committee, which shall 
be a part of the permanent organization of the Congress, and which shall 
in the interim between meetings of the Board of Directors exercise all the 
powers of that Board in accordance with the genral policy of the organiza¬ 
tion. • . * 

Meetings of the Executive Committee may be held at any time. A 
majority of the members of the committee shall constitute a quorum. The 
executive committee shall keep a record of all its acts and report same to 
the Board of Directors, such record to become a part of the records of this 
Congress. 

The motion was adopted. 

It was moved and seconded that Article IX. be amended by expunging 
Section 1 and inserting in lieu thereof, the following: 


130 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


ARTICLE IX. 

Elections. 

Section 1. The Directors shall he elected at the Annual Meeting of the 
members. In the election of the Directors each state or territory shall be 
entitled to cast ten votes and one additional vote for each fifty members 
in good standing, residing in such state or territory; provided, how¬ 
ever, that no votes shall be cast by proxy and that no state shall be per¬ 
mitted to cast more votes than the number of members from such state 
present at such Annual Session. 

It was moved by Mr. Prince and seconded by Mr. Mills that the 
amendment offered to Section 1, Article IX, be amended by inserting after 
ihe word “member” in line two, the words, “not later than the after¬ 
noon session of the third day.” After considerable discussion a roll call 
was asked for. After roll call the Chair declared the amendment to tho 
.amendment lost, the vote being as follows: 

Yeas—L. Bradford Prince. 

' Nays—Rasmus Hanson, W. S. Ward, James H. Crandell, W. F. Mc- 
Quarrie, Lewis A. Reinert, Nelson A. Reinert, A. M. Donaldson, James F. 
Callbreath, Jr., Charles H. Morris, E. Lyman White, Henry I. Seemann, 
A. G. Rummell, E. M. De La Vergne, J. H. Richards, Victor C. Alderson, 
E. A. Colburn, Thomas Ewing, W. F. R. Mills. 

The original motion was then put to the house and adopted. 

It was moved and seconded that Article XH be stricken out and the fol¬ 
lowing inserted in lieu thereof: 

ARTICLE XH. 

Time and Place of Holding Annual Meetings. 

Section 1. The time and place of holding the annual session shall be 
determined by the Board of Directors. 

Section 2. The time and place of holding the annual meeting of mem¬ 
bers shall be determined by the Board of Directors. 

The motion was adopted. 

It was moved and seconded that Article XIV be amended by expunging 
same and inserting in lieu thereof the following: 

ARTICLE XIV. 

Amendments. 

These by-laws may be amended by a two-thirds vote of the members 
present, notice in writing containing the proposed amendment having 
been mailed by the Secretary to each member at his last given postofiice 
address, at least thirty days prior to the date of voting thereon. 

Upon motion of L. Bradford Prince, seconded by W. F. R. Mills, it 
was ordered that the amendment to Article XIV as proposed, should be 
amended by adding thereto the words, “any member may propose an 
amendment to these by-laws by sending the same to the Secretary at least 
forty-five days before any proposed meeting of members.” The motion to 
amend the amendment was unanimously adopted. The motion to amend 
Article XIV as amended was then put and unanimously adopted. 

Parts of a recent communication addressed to the Cripple Creek ore 
producers with reference to the sampling and settlement upon ore shipped 
for treatment was read by Senator E. M. De La Vergne and discussion 
followed, which was participated in by Mr. De La Vergne, Mr. Colburn, 
Mr. Brunton and others, but no action was taken with reference to same. 

Upon motion it was ordered that the Secretary be authorized to accept 
from the present members two dollars in full satisfaction of their dues for 
the year 1906. 

The Secretary read a communication from Mr. F. Wallace White of 
Cleveland, Ohio, pledging his subscription to the amount of one thousand 
dollars ($1,000.00) toward the erection of a Mining Congress building in 
Denver. The communication was received with applause and the thanks 
tf the Congress tendered to Mr. White. 

Upon motion meeting adjourned. 


Minutes of 


Annual [Meeting of Members 

held at 

Denver, Colorado, October 17, 1906 


8 O’CLOCK, P. M. 

FIRST VICE PRESIDENT EWING IN THE CHAIR. 

THE CHAIRMAN: The Congress will please come to order. 

Gentlemen and members of the American Mining Congress, you will 
remember that this is a meeting for members only, and only those who are 
members can vote in this meeting. 

We will first listen to the reading of the minutes of the previous meet¬ 
ing. 

The minutes of the meeting of May 24, 1906, were thereupon read by 
the Secretary. 

MR. BERN OP UTAH: I move that the minutes be approved as read. 

Motion seconded. , 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OP NEW MEXICO: There are just two sug¬ 
gestions I would like to make as to matters that are not complete there. 
At that meeting, on the vote on the first, second and third propositions, I 
asked that my negative vote be recorded. It is recorded on the first, but 
not on the second and third. I would like to have my negative vote re¬ 
corded on each proposition, as I asked at that time. 

THE CHAIRMAN: The correction will be so made by the Secretary. 

It is moved and seconded that the minutes of the last meeting be ac¬ 
cepted and adopted. Those in favor of that motion will say aye; contrary 
no. The motion is carried. 

The Secretary’s financial report is the next thing in order. The 
Secretary will read it. 

Said report was thereupon read by the Secretary, as follows: 

Financial Statement of Secretary for Period, November 1, 1906, to 


October 1, 1906. 

RECEIPTS. 

November 1, 1905: 

Cash on hand ..$ 821.60 

Received from Life memberships . 550.00 

Received from annual memberships . 835.00 

Received from annual dues . 631.50 

Received from refund of railroad fare. 57.60 

Received from City of Denver . 1,000.00 

Received from information department . 24.00 

Received from exchange . .25 


Total receipts ..$3,919.95 

DISBURSEMENTS. 

(Covered by vouchers Nos. 66 to 167, Inc.) 

Back bills paid from previous sessions .$ 100.00 

Salaries of Secretary, stenographers and organizers. 2,129.64 

Office fixtures . 82.53 
















132 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


Office expense . 160.84 

Printing . 285,40 

Stationery . 146.45 

Postage .! 345,00 

Secretary’s bond fee . 15,00 

Secretary’s traveling expenses . 154.15 

Traveling expenses of representatives . 304.25 

Exchange (Bank) . 5.75 

Miscellaneous .*.. 43.15 


Total disbursements ..$3,772.16 

Total receipts .$3,919.05 

Total disbursements . 3,772,16 


Balance on hand October 1, 1906.$ 147.79 


Respectfully submitted, 

•JAS. F. CALLBREATH, JR., 

Secretary. 

THE SECRETARY: I have also the report of the auditing committee. 
Said report was thereupon read by the Secretary, as follows: 

Denver, Colo., Oct. 15, 1906. 

We, the undersigned, members of the Auditing Committee of the 
American Mining Congress, beg to report that the books of the Secretary 
show as follows: 


Cash on hand, last report .$ 821.60 

Receipts as follows: 

Life memberships—$150, $400 . 550.00 

Membership fees, $355, $480 . 835.00 

Dues, $371.20, $260.30 . 631.50 

Information department,, $24.00 . 24.00 

Chamber of Commerce, Denver . 1,000.00 

Refund, railroad fare . 57.60 

Exchange . .25 


. $3,919.95 

Disbursements, (Covered by -Vouchers Nos. 66 to 167, inclusive). 


Back bills paid from previous sessions .'..$ 100.00 

.Salaries of Secretary, stenographers and organizers. 2,129.64 

Office fixtures . 82.53 

Office expense . 160.84 

Printing . 285.40 

Stationery . 146.45 

Postage ...:_ 345.00 

Secretary’s bond fee . 15.00 

Secretary’s traveling and incidental expense . 154.15 

Traveling Expense of representatives . 304,25 

Exchange (Bank) . 5.75 

Miscellaneous . 43.15 


Total disbursements .$3,772.16 

Total receipts .$3,919.95 

Total disbursements . 3,772.16 


Balance on hand October 1, 1906 ..$ 147,79 

Signed, 


W. F. R. MILLS, 

E. L. WHITE, 

Members Auditing Committee. 












































/ 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 133 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I would like to inquire as 
to what Ihe report shows from October 1, 1906, to date, if we can get 
that. 

THE CHAIRMAN: I have looked over the books to-day myself, be¬ 
cause I wanted to see that particularly. You mean what it shows since 
October 1st? 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Yes, I simply want to know what we 
have on hand now. 

THE CHAIRMAN: It shows a payment by the Chamber of Com¬ 
merce, or by the people of Denver, to this Congress of $3,500—that may be 
a dollar or two out of the way—since the first of October, and there is a 
check or two that will be in before we adjourn here, and we can make a 
report before adjournment, if you wish, showing exactly the amount of the 
total. Then there is quite an amount of money that has been collected 
by the Secretary and placed in the bank within the last few days that ’s 
not included in this report. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: I move you, then, Mr. President, that 
Ihe reports of the Secretary and the Auditing Committee be received and 
filed. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President, carried unanimously, 
and so declared. 

THE CHAIRMAN: I will state also that the vouchers have been gone 
over, and here is a voucher for every disbursement of the year, and they 
were approved by the President—each check was indorsed by the President. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I am glad to know that we are in such a 
good condition, and I hope we will continue so. It aifpears to me we are 
probably in a better condition now than we have ever been at any other 
annual session, and I think it reflects great credit upon the board of 
directors and the President and Secretary who have these matters in 
charge. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: On behalf of the board of directors and of 
the President, I thank the gentleman very much. I have asked the Sec¬ 
retary to bring every voucher here so that thy may be inspected if desired. 
The President is absent, and will be here in a few minutes. 

THE CHAIRMAN: Now, gentlemen, there are three directors to be 
elected at this meeting to take the place of Judge Richards, of J. Frank 
Watson of Portland, and of myself, as we were placed upon the short 
term and expect to retire with this meeting. You have therefore three 
directors to select to take our places. A committee of five is to be selected 
by the members of this Congress to present candidates here for your 
selection. There is no committee to be appointed by the chair at all, but 
it is to be selected by the members, so the members are now at liberty to 
select that committee. 

MR. A. W. GIFFORD OF TEXAS: I would nominate Mr. John Dern 
of Utah as one member of that nominating committee. 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Do you wish to nominate all of them 
at the same time? 

THE CHAIRMAN: No; you can present all of the names at one 
time. That is, you can select your committee and let them nominate the 
whole ticket. » 

MR. DERN OF UTAH: I nominate Mr. Dorsey of Nebraska as a 
member of that committee. 

MR. REPIE OF NEVADA: I nominate Mr. W. F. R. Mills of Colorado. 

MR. B. W. GOODSELL OF ILLINOIS: I wish to place in nomination 
the name of ex-Governor Prince of New Mexico, 


134 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


MR. DORSEY OF NEBRASKA: I nominate Mr. Gifford of Texas. 

THE CHAIRMAN: Are there any other nominations for this com¬ 
mittee? • '' 

MR. E. A. COLBURN OF COLORADO: I desire to nominate Mr. 
Richard A. Riepe of Nevada. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I move that the nominations be closed, 
inasmuch as I hear no more names, and that the Secretary be requested to 
cast the ballot of the members of the Congress for these five names that 
have been mentioned. 

THE CHAIRMAN: There have been six nominations. 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OF NEW MEXICO: As there are six nomina¬ 
tions and only five to be elected, I would be glad to withdraw my name 
and leave just five, and thus simplify the matter. 

MR. GOODSELL OF ILLINOIS: I hope Mr. Prince will reconsider his 
withdrawal. 

GOVERNOR PRINCE OF NEW MEXICO: It will save time, and I 
have no desire to be on the committee, and I think it will simplify the 
matter very much. 

THE CHAIRMAN: Will the gentleman from Illinois accept Governor 
Prince’s withdrawal? 

MR. GOODSELL OF ILLINOIS: B will do so, with regrets. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I. desire at this time to renew the motion 
I made that the nominations be closed and that the Secretary be in¬ 
structed to cast the ballot of the members of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress here present for the five names who are now on the list as the nomi¬ 
nating committee. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was thereupon put by the chairman, carried, and so de¬ 
clared. 

THE SECRETARY: By direction of the meeting, I have cast the una¬ 
nimous ballot of this Congress for Messrs. John Dern, W. E. Dorsey, W. 

R. Mills, A. W. Gifford and Richard A. Repie to act as a committee on 
nominations. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Mr. Chairman, I would like to rise to a 
question of personal privilege and make a few remarks before the commit¬ 
tee retires. I believe every man ought to be judged by his acts, and in 
order that we may judge men by their acts is the reason I have taken the 
floor at this particular time. We have two men who have been officiating 
as directors of the American Mining Congress, and who have given, I 
might say, almost their entire time and efforts to the success of this body,, 
and I believe it is but right and just to return these two gentlemen to 
what I term an honorable position in this Congress. I refer first to our 
President, Hon. J. H. Richards. (Applause). I am confident that Judge 
Richards has nothing but the good of the Mining Congress at heart. I 
know that Judge Richards has given a great deal of his time and atten¬ 
tion to the interests of this Congress, and it is but meet that we shouiG 
:;how our appreciation of this by asking the nominating committee to 
present his name here before this Congress as a director to succeed him¬ 
self. (Applause). At the same time, I do not desire to detract anything 
from the efforts of our friend Colonel Ewing (applause), whose kindly 
face we have seen at almost every session of this Congress that has been 
held. I therefore move you, gentlemen of the convention, that it be the 
sense of the rnembers of this Congress that the nominating committee 
return as directors of this Congress the names of Judge Richards and 
Colonel Ewing. I make that as a motion. 

VICE PRESIDENT EWING: In behalf of Judge Richards and myself, 
I wish to make an explanation to the members of this Congress. When 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


135 


judge Richards and myself both desired to retire a year ago, we had been 
in the harness a long time and had done what we could in our way to. ad¬ 
vance the interests of this Congress, I have just as much interest in 
ihis Congress as any man in it, and perhaps more than I ought to take. I 
never miss a meeting or a directors’ meeting or anything, no matter what 
it costs, because a man who goes on this board should always do that. We 
have members on this board of directors who have not done their duty, 
and if I were elected on this board again and in the same position I am 
now, at ihe first meeting of this board I would ask those gentlemen to 
resign. I am not here to seek any position; I would prefer to give way to 
men who are more able to execute the duties of such an office, but there 
is no one in our whole membership that is able to surpass our present 
President, and while I am always ready to retire myself in favor of men 
better qualified for the position, I have urged Judge Richards to continue 
on in this work. This Congress is only in its infancy, and it will be 
greater and greater every year, and it is only such men as Judge Richards 
that can give it dignity, with the men with whom he has surrounded him¬ 
self—outside of myself anyhow—and I want to tell you that you can only 
succeed by placing such men in office with Judge Richards. I have my eye 
on a man that you all cast your eyes on to-day, and one or two of them, 
and one of them is a member and the other will be a member in the 
morning. He has put in his application to-day. You may guess who it is 
or you may not. But I want to tell you that either of them will preside 
with the same dignity and do as much labor and take as much interest as 
any one in this work. I have taken the trouble to go and discuss the mat¬ 
ters of this Congress with them. And while you might feel like return¬ 
ing me to that position, and while I would consider it a great honor, I 
v/ould ask you to leave me off the board if you please. 

MR. F. WALLACE WHITE OP OHIO: I do not believe it is wise for 
us to change horses while crossing the stream. We want to see Judge 
Richards and Colonel Ewing returned as members of the Board of Direc¬ 
tors of this Mining Congress. 

A MEMBER: I wish to second Mr. Joseph’s’ motion. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Gentlemen, owing to the delicacy of the 
situation I will put the motion myself. All in favor of that motion will 
so signify by saying aye; contrary likewise. The motion is unanimously 
carried. 

(The committee on nominations here retired from the room.) 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: The resolutions committee has received a 
resolution not bearing the name of its author, and I would like to ask If 
the gentleman is in the room. It is with reference to submitting to the 
Interstate Commerce Commission an application for a hearing in the city 
of Denver for matters respecting railroad rates. 

MR. P. L. PATRICK OF OHIO: I am the author of that resolution. 
I would say that the way I came to introduce that resolution— 

THE CHAIRMAN: Pardon me, Mr. Patrick, but the resolution is not 
in order to be discussed at the present time. This is a meeting of the 
members only, and the general session will meet here in a few minutes. 
The delegates have the same right to discuss these matters. 

W. F. R. MILLS OF COLORADO: On behalf of the committee on 
nominations I would say that it was not at all difficult to arrive at a con¬ 
clusion so far as two members of the board were concerned, and your com¬ 
mittee unanimously selected Judge J. H. Richards and Colonel Thomas 
Ewing. (Applause). The third member of the board, however, has not 
been selected, and the committee asks the indulgence of this meeting 
until Friday morning at 9 o’clock. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: I move that the report of the committee 
on nominations be adopted, and that when we adjourn it be until Friday 
morning at 9:30, that is, as far as the members of the Congress are con¬ 
cerned. 

Motion seconded. 


I 


136 OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 

The motion was thereupon put by the President, carried, and so de¬ 
clared. 

THE CHAIRMAN: The meeting of the members, when we do ad¬ 
journ, will be adjourned to Friday morning at 9:30. 

W. F. R. MILLS OF COLORADO: If there is no other business before 
this meeting, Mr. President, I move that we now adjourn. 

Motion seconded. 

THE CHAIRMAN: As there,is no further business before the meeting 
of the members, it is moved and seconded that we adjourn now to give way 
to the general meeting called for half past eight o’clock. All those in 
favor of that motion will so signify by saying aye; contrary no. The 
ayes have it and the meeting stands aajourned. 


OCTOBER 19, 1906, 10 O’CLOCK, A. M. 

President Richards in the chair. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Let the Congress be in order. 

For a few moments it will be simply a meeting of the members, and 
in opening that meeting I think it is appropriate for me to state that we 
have had under consideration the question of trying to induce Mr. Thomas 
F. Walsh to act upon our board of directors. I had a consultation with 
him yesterday at his home, and during that consultation I had the privi¬ 
lege of getting a slight glimpse of the beautiful home life of that man. 
But because of certain difficulties surrounding him at this time, which it 
is not necessary to mention, he finds it will be impossible for him to act 
as a director for this year. However, he authorized me to say that he is 
in perfect sympathy with the work of this Congress and is now a life mem¬ 
ber, and that he would permit this board to command any service he is able 
to render this Congress for the coming year, and he hopes that after this 
year he might engage with us in the active work before the Congress. I 
thought it was due to him and to you to make that statement. 

The members of the body are now in session relative to such matters 
as shall come before them concerning the selection of the third director, 
I believe. 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, your nominating com¬ 
mittee reported night before last on the nomination of two of the direc¬ 
tors, but did not at that time decide on a third member. It was my in¬ 
tention this morning as chairman of that committee, to call the committee 
together so as to be able to report at the opening of the session, but some 
of the members are also on the committee on resolutions and hav^ been 
busy, and it has been impossible to get the committee together. I realize 
the importance of having strong directors and having the directors so 
situated that the business can be conducted satisafctorily to the Congress. 

I want to take a stand in nominating a man, with the approval of the 
other members that are here. 'I want to place a man in nomination for 
the position of director from the state of Colorado, and I want it distinctly 
understood at the outset that in our own state the Congress has been 
somewhat criticised for the reason that they term it a Colorado concern. 
I think that anybody who is familiar with the workings and operation of 
the Congress knows better than to term it a Colorado concern, but we 
have got to have men at the seat of Congress to assist in conducting the 
affairs of the Congress. Our worthy President being located at Boise, 
Colonel Ewing’s home is at Los Angeles, while I am located at Salt Lake 
City, it is not a convenient matter when matters of importance come up 
for members to come here to every one of the meetings, and it is neces¬ 
sary that at least two directors should be near the seat of government, 
as you might term it, and that prompts me, after deliberating upon the 
subject, to nominate another man from this state, believing that it is ab¬ 
solutely for the best interests of the Congress to have another man from 



AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


1 


137 


Colorado. I take pleasure in placing in nomination for that position Mr. 
W. P. R. Mills of this city. (Applause.) 

CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, as 
I am from New Mexico, I do not know but what it would be fitting that I 
should second this nomination. I agree with my friend from Utah that 
the worst thing that could happen to any organization is to have a com¬ 
mittee scattered so that they can not get together to transact business, 
and that is one of the principal reasons why I second this nominaion. I 
do not even know the gentleman who has been nominated, but feel that on 
that account I want to second the nomination. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The name of Mr. Mills has been sug¬ 
gested, as you have heard, for the third director to be elected. I under¬ 
stand that the laws of this state, under which we are organized, makes 
R necessary to elect a director by ballot. If there are no other nomina¬ 
tions, the chair hearing none, it will be appropriate for you to instruct 
the secretary to cast the ballot of this body in favor of Mr. Mills. 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: I move you, Mr. President, that the 
Secretary be instructed to cast the unauirr^us vote of the members of the 
Congress for the election of Mr. J. H. Richards, Mr. Thomas Ewing and 
Mr. W. P. R. Mills as directors of this Congress for the term of three 
years. 

Motion seconded. 

The motion was thereupon put by the President and declared carried 
tinanimously. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The Secretary will so cast the ballot. 

THE SECRETARY: The ballot has been so cast, and the result is 
that these three gentlemen, Hon. J. H. Richards, Colonel Thomas Ewing 
and Mr. W. P. R. Mills have received the unanimous vote of the Congress 
for directors of this Congress. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The gentlemen named having received 
the unanimous vote of this meeting, I declare them elected as directors of 
this Congress for the term of three years. 

THE SECRETARY: I would like to say, with reference to the state¬ 
ment which has been made in some quarters, where there seems to be 
^:ome little feeling against the work of the American Mining Congress, 
that it was likely to become, or had" become, a Colorado organization, 
that at the meeting of the members held in Denver last spring, at which 
three-fourths of those present were Colorado members, the following 
section was added to the by-laws for the purpose of preventing the 
possibility of any state controlling the organization, and I desire to 
read that section. 

“The directors shall be elected at the annual meeting of the members. 
In the election of the directors each state or territory shall be entitled to 
cast ten votes and one additional vote for each fifty members in good 
standing, residing within such state or territory; provided, however, that 
no votes shall be cast by proxy and that no state shall be permitted to 
cast more votes than the number of members from such state present at 
such annual session.” 

Now, under that clause, if Colorado should have one thousand mem¬ 
bers of this organization she could cast thirty votes; if Wyoming had 
ten members, Utah ten, and Nevada ten, those three states could cast 
^^hirty votes. In other words, thirty members from outside states, con¬ 
tributing $300 a year to the organization, could wield exactly the same 
influence as Colorado with 1,000 members and contributing ten thousand 
dollars to the support of the organization. The purpose of this resolu- 
was to make it impossible for-any state, no matter how large its mem¬ 
bership might be, to control the organization. The fact that that resolu¬ 
tion -^Vas passed without a dissenting voice on the part of any Colorado 
member shows the disposition of the Colorado members not to take any 
advantage of the situation because the permanent home is located here, 


138 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


0 


but to fence themselves absolutely against the possibility of being able to 
control the organization when the outside states had any different candi¬ 
dates to present for election. (Applause.) 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, I don’t know whether 
this is just the proper time or not—if it is not the President will have 
the privilege of calling me down and I will take it up later—but I want to 
make a tew remarks in reference to the permanent home of the American 
Mining Congress. I think likely it comes in good grace that a member of 
the delegation from Utah might rise on that, point to make some inquiry 
as to what has been done within the last two years for the establishment 
of this home. We were contestants for the location of the permanent 
home in behalf of Salt Lake City. When we offered you at that time at 
Portland—or when we asked for it, we offered you something tangible. 
We came there with authority to offer to the Congress a site tor a home 
which our city council had authorized and which authorization had been 
signed by the mayor, giving us a site for a location of that home in a most 
desirable locality of the city, right opposite the city and county building, 
of which property to-day the land alone is worth not less than $20,0u0. 
We thought that was a pretty good starter, and with our delegation as we 
appeared before our Congress we made further promises and pledges, and, 
as you Know, when we Utahans go after a thing we usually make good 
our promises. (Applause.) I want to censure you people of Colorado to 
some extent, believing that you have not quite done your duty with refer¬ 
ence to taking the steps and getting started in the erection of that per¬ 
manent home for the Congress. I would like at this time to make inquiry 
from the Secretary as to how much money has been collected or pledged 
and what progress has been made. I believe we all want to know, partic¬ 
ularly those outside of this state, when we are going home, that the mat¬ 
ter is being taken up in the proper spirit and that there are prospects of 
something being done in that direction. Certainly, it would look bad for 
Denver, after getting the Congress and making those promises, if they let 
the thing die down again. I do not believe it is the intention, but as I 
stated before, we want to have something when we go back to our state, 
to say definitely about this matter to the delegates who were up with us 
to the Congress in Portland and who were authorized to make this offer 
to the American Mining Congress. They will ask us what Denver has 
done when we get back, and we want to know what it has done, so that 
we will be able to tell them, 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Members of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress: There have been some indications that people think that this body is 
being run by a few men. I want to state this to you, that 1 am glad that 
impression has gone out to this extent, because it is true. I never per¬ 
mit my name to be connected with an organization as its officer that I do 
not undertake to stamp my individuality, as far as possible, and my en¬ 
ergy. upon that body. (Applause.) That is equally true of your board 
of directors, and when you have elected a board to run the ordinary af¬ 
fairs of your Congress so far, that board has run it, and it will continue to 
do so, unless you instruct them otherwise. This is a business organiza¬ 
tion, and it is run by a board of directors, and to that extent it is true 
that a few men have run this organization, because you instruct them to 
do that and elect them for that purpose. But I do not think there is a 
man who has attended this Congress who has felt that he has been re¬ 
stricted in any possible right or liberty during this session of the Con¬ 
gress. The freest liberty is given any member to express his views. But 
on the business matters, so long as I am an officer, you can rest assured I 
will have a large part in running this organization until you instruct me 
otherwise. I believe the chief executive officer of any organization re¬ 
ceives honor enough when he knows anybne who is at the head of any 
particular department is making a success of that department, and. when 
he does he is entitled to the credit for that success, and not the chief 
executive officer. That is the system upon which this organization is 
being run. Now, this applies somewhat to the question presented by Mr. 


AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


189 


Dern. I presume I have had as large a part in this question he has just 
presented as any other individual, because I have not agreed with a large 
number ot the Board upon this proposition. I have conferred with some 
of the leading men of the state of Colorado upon this question. Now, you 
can readily understand that if we look upon the mining industry in its 
true light, and if you expect to have a building that will represent that 
great industry in its true light, it must rest on a sure foundation first as 
to its legal status, so that you may know that that building, when 
erected, will never be foreclosed under mortgages or sold out under taxa¬ 
tion. Therefore, you can see that it may be necessary, as suggested by 
some of the leading miners of this state, that we have legislation here in or¬ 
der that that title may be so fixed that it will be absolutely permanent for¬ 
ever for the purpose intended, possibly letting it rest in the state of 
Colorado with a lease back for the use of this Mining Congress for¬ 
ever. 

Now, as far as I am concerned, as indicated in my annual address 
the other day, I am not so anxious about the money at this time as I 
am to get it on the right foundation. I believe there can be no question 
about the money when you can show business men that you have this 
resting on a sure foundation, and that when they put their money into 
it, it will be dedicated to the purpose for which it is intended forever. 
Therefore, I suggested to these men that we do not, up to this time, 
attempt to raise any funds, until we know on what basis this institution 
is to rest, and then I hope that the funds will be sufficient to erect in 
this city a building that will be so ornamental and enduring in its archi¬ 
tectural plans, by reason of its adaptation to the purpose for which it is 
intended, that it will not only be an honor to this city but to the nation; 
and therefore I have, as far as was in my power, placed a check on the 
question of raising money up to this time for that purpose, until we 
get this legal foundation assured, and I have reasonable assurance from 
men of vast means that when we can show them that we are right along 
these lines we need not trouble ourselves about money. I think that that 
perhaps takes the responsibility from the people of Colorado and largely 
places it where it belongs, and that is upon my shoulders, along that 
particular line. They have started once or twice to raise money, and at 
my earnest objection they have ceased. So I think the responsibility 
should rest upon me at this time for the course that has been taken. 
Colorado, I believe, is going to be ready to do her part when this body 
can show to them the legal basis upon which this institution is to rest 
for the future, and that is the reason why Colorado has not done more 
than it has up to the present time. (Applause.) 

MR. MORNINGSTAR OP UTAH: Mr. President, I would like to 
inquire what is being done to put this organization in shape so that it 
may receive money for that purpose. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: To some extent, it is proper to announce 
it, and to some extent, perhaps not, but I will say this much, that we 
have assurances from men who have considerable infiuence in this state 
that they will undertake to see that appropriate legislation is passed at 
the coming session of the Colorado Legislature, and a bill is being pre¬ 
pared or will be prepared for that purpose; but I cannot promise you 
what the Legislature will do, of course. We have some of our largest 
men in Colorado that will advocate that. 

MR. MORNINGSTAR OF UTAH: Another question I had in mind 
to ask is this: What progi’am is mapped out for increasing the member¬ 
ship. It seems to me a membership of 400 is not more than one-third 
large enough if we are going to do the things we are aiming to do. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: That is a very proper question, and I 
will have to answer it in my own way. It is a question of quality rather 
than quantity we have been seeking in this matter, at least for the last 
year or two, and perhaps for the coming year. Now, in my judgment 
you cannot induce high-minded business men to take hold of an organ- 


140 


OFFICIAL PROCEEDINGS 


ization of this kind until they know it is going to be respected and re¬ 
spectable. I cannot say that it has been respectable in the past, nor 
respected very much; but when we get it established upon the basis I 
feel it is resting upon here to-day in the minds of the people who have 
attended these sessions, then you can have no doubt that its member¬ 
ship will increase in quantity as well as quality. The board is trying 
to work out a definite system along that line, and we have now a man 
engaged, and I presume it will be his entire duty, almost, during the 
coming year, under the direction of the board, to take hold of that ques¬ 
tion of membership. We have no doubt that Missouri will furnish us 
200 members this year, and with what is coming in so rapidly we feel 
that the membership is increasing just in proportion as the confidence 
of the public is found to rest on a sound basis in this institution. We 
are trying to demonstrate to the people that we are worthy of their 
confidence, and to that extent I feel sure we will get our membership 
increased, and no further. 

SENATOR DE LA VERGNE OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I 
wish to ask this Congress to excuse me this morning from further at¬ 
tendance, as it is necessary that I should go to Colorado Springs and 
then meet the delegates at that point that are going to Cripple Creek, 
but before doing so I want to state to this convention that there seems 
to be a wrong impression gotten out through the press, some of the 
papers in Denver, relating to this discussion of yesterday, that Mr. 
Guiterman hid out and didn’t care to come to discuss matters in the 
afternoon. That impression was wrong; as I am reliably informed that 
at a dinner of a number of members at which our President was present 
he stated that he. would not be able to attend except in the forenoon. 
The papers didn’t know that. If they had I don’t think they would have 
gotten the idea that he was not facing the music. I think it is only fair 
that that statement should be made. I like to be square with everyone 
in these matters and I want the members of this Congress to understand 
that. (Applause.) 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Mr. President, I desire to move you 
that it be the sense of this Congress that a request be made to the press 
of this city that the impression indicated be corrected. 

CAPTAIN JACK CRAWFORD OF NEW MEXICO: Mr. President, 
while seconding that motion I will say that I heard Mr. Guiterman make 
that statement after the meeting yesterday—that it would be impossible 
for him to be here—and I heard him make it to the President of this 
Congress. 

MR. JOHN DERN OP UTAH: I also wish to state, Mr. President, 
that, across the street, when I went to lunch at the Denver Club, he 
said he would have to leave that afternoon for Utah, and that he had 
everything arranged, and at that time of course he didn’t know that he 
was requested to be up here in the afternoon. He had made his ar¬ 
rangements and had his berth and everything engaged to go on that 
afternoon. 

THE SECRETARY: May I state further that Mr. Guiterman put 
off another engagement for the sake of being here yesterday. He had 
arranged to go away, I think Saturday evening, and Mr. Guggenheim told 
me on Friday that he would endeavor to have Mr. Guiterman postpone 
that engagement for the sake of being here. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: You have heard the motion, that it is 
the sense of this body that the press of this city be requested to correct 
the impression gone out that Mr. Guiterman was not acting in good faith 
with this body. Are you ready for the question? 

Question called for. 

The question was thereupon put by the President, and declared car¬ 
ried, unanimously. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any other matters to come 
before the membership meeting? If not, the meeting will stand ad¬ 
journed, and the Congress will now convene in general session. 



Annual Address of the President 


BY HON. J. H. RICHARDS, BOISE, IDAHO. 

Under instructions from your Board of Directors, it 
has been customary during tlie time I liave been President 
of this organization, to deliver what is called the ^tPresi- 
dent^s Annual Address.” The real purpose of this custom 
heretofore has been to place before the American people 
a concise statement of the work and aims of this institution. 
As it was important that this should be correctly stated, I 
have heretofore prepared this address in Avriting, Avith some 
considerable care, but at this time I feel justitied, in AueAA^ 
of my relations to this body, that I should giA^e myself a' 
little freer scope, and speak to you as my heart shall dic¬ 
tate. 

It has been my privilege to be President of this organ¬ 
ization for four consecutive years. During that time it has 
taken on its present legal form as a corporation, organized 
under the laws of the state of Colorado, Avith its Board of 
Directors and legal officers. * 

This Avas done that definiteness of purpose and perma¬ 
nency of organization might be conspicuous in the Avorking 
of The American Mining Congress. 

This step had in AueAV the fact that the mineral industry 
of this great country reaches underneath all the other great 
industries clear doAvu the years of the future, and this or¬ 
ganization, to aid in bringing out of those resources Avdiat 
is best to the American people, ought to be as enduring in 
purpose as that which it represents. Its purposes, while 
definite, in a sense, are of such a nature that under this plan 
of organization, they can expand with the expanding oppor¬ 
tunities of this body as its Avork goes on. 

Therefore ^Ye organized in the form we now have, hop¬ 
ing that as the years go by and this organization demon¬ 
strates that it is worthy of that for Avhich it stands, it may 
attract to itself all of that which is best in the best thought 
of mining men and those who are in other industries allied 
Avith mining. This gives a definite aim extending all down 
the years, eA^er AAudening to meet expanding conditions. 

In vieAV of the foregoing, it is appropriate at this time 
that I should suggest for your consideration certain things 
that in my judgment and in the judgment of your Board of 



142 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Directors are worthy of your consideration on this occasion, 
in the hope that it will aid you in the determination of those 
matters that will be brought before yon. 

First, it seems to me that every man has his limitations 
of usefulness in certain directions and it seems proper for 
me to say to yon that in my judgment the time has arrived 
when you should select as the xiresiding officer of this body 
some man who is better equipped for accomjilishing the 
immediate work confronting it than myself. 

I was iilaced here because it Avas belieA^ed by those Avho 
were instrumental in jilacing me in this position that I pos¬ 
sessed the faculty of organization. Upon that theory I 
accejited it, and upon that theory I have acted, and this 
body now represents an organized body of men Avith pur¬ 
poses outlined in your Articles of Incorporation and By- 
LaAvs, as the outgroAvth of that idea. I do not for one in- 
•stant claim the credit for this. 

I can illustrate niA^ idea of that bA^ a statement: At 
El Paso one year ago, when Ave were holding our session 
there, a gentleman stoinied me in the street and said: 

(*an not understand Iioaa^ von haA^e conducted this organiza- 
tion, as I have kuoAvn it from the time you took charge of it 
to the present time, and had eA^erything AAmrk so harmo¬ 
niously.’^ I said: ^^That is iierfectly easy. I have sinijily 
been able to select and attract around me men who are 
capable of doing big things. They have done the AA'ork, 
and I have stood still and looked AAuse.” And there is a 
great deal of truth in that, because these men who have 
stood by me in this position haA^e done most of this work 
of organization, and it is due to me and due to them and 
due to you to state that most of the suggestions that have 
resulted in bringing out this organization as it stands be¬ 
fore the AAmrld to-day came from those Directors Avhom you 
have selected from Amar to A^ear. 

When Ave took hold of this matter at Butte, Montana, 
four years ago, those of you Avho AA^ere present there will re¬ 
member Avhat a chaotic state everything Avas in. The 
Chairman absolutely lost control of the convention; there 
Avas no accounting for funds to anybody, no system or 
order, or general aim to this organization. We had no 
money, Ave had no standing, and Ave were almost Avithout 
liope. Out of that condition your Board of Directors have 
brought out Avhat this organization now stands for, and I 
say, Avithout any fear of contradiction, that it is organized 
on a clean, good, sound, honorable, business basis, on a 
basis that it iuhhIs not to axK)logize to any one, as a result 




ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


143 


of the best thought of the best men who liave been con¬ 
nected with this organization. 

Second, you will naturally realize that one of the first 
things we had to consider was the importance of sustain¬ 
ing this organization and meeting its necessary expenses. 
Under the old s^^stem of the International Mining Congress, 
we appealed to dilferent localities to hold the sessions 
there and they agreed to contribute so much money toAvard 
the expense of this organization; but it did not impress us 
that that was a good business policy: If tlie mining indus¬ 
try is worthy of such an organization, then that organiza¬ 
tion ought to be self-supporting and it oiigiit to go into any 
community Avhere it holds its sessions in a dignified manner, 
and beg of no man and no community; and upon that the¬ 
ory we have undertaken to organize upon a membership 
basis. While it is a corporation, it has no stock. You can 
readily understand AA^hy that is true, because eA^ery member 
has but one A'Ote Avlien present upon matters pertaining to 
this body, and Avhen he is not present, of course, that share 
or that membership is not represented and can not be trans¬ 
ferred, so that no body or clique of men can control this 
organization. 

You can readily understand that it was difficult to 
start on a financial basis that would be sound. But out of 
a multitude of counsel there is Avisdom; Ave started on a 
small basis of $5.00 for membership, $50.00 for life member¬ 
ship, $2.00 annual dues, and $1.00 for associate delegates. 

• At El Paso the Board of Directors realized that this insti¬ 
tution could not be supported on so small a basis, imd 
brought up the question of amending the By-LaAvs and 
placing it upon the basis of $15.00 for membership and 
$10.00 annual dues, and $100.00 for life membership. The 
question was debated pro and con, and as you realize, nec¬ 
essarily, those of you avIio haA^e heretofore attended this 
body, that many times the membership or delegates Avho 
Avere there at one session, AA'ould be almost entirely different 
at another session, and therefore they did not seem to com¬ 
prehend the necessity of a higher initiation or membership 
fee, and the discussion Avas bringing on some feeling and 
bitterness, and I suggested to some of the Board of Direc¬ 
tors, this matter drop. Bather than liave any personal 
controA^ersy oA’^er this matter now, aao AAill call a special 
meeting, Avhere members only are present, and Avill act upon 
it intelTigently at that meeting.” Therefore we called a 
meeting to be held in DeuA’^er last May for that particular 
purpose, and this question was discussed pro and con, and 


144 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


almost uiiauimoiisly the By-Laws were amended so tliat 
now tlie membersliip fee is f 15.00, annual dues $10.00, and 
the life membership fee $100.00. So that is the iiresent 
status. You Avill readily see that only members can vote 
upon those matters which pertain to the le^al status of this 
body, such as electing Directors, etc. Delegates, who are 
not members, can participate in all of the deliberations in 
the open sessions pertaining to the matters which are un¬ 
der discussion by the Congress, on the same basis as mem¬ 
bers. We do not feel-that it would be wise to limit these 
discussions to members only, because, many times, men 
who have not sufficient interest to become members, Avould 
have sufficient interest, in some of our important questions, 
to come as a delegate and present that question, and we 
want the widest opening to rt'ceive anything that is good, 
and therefore we have adopted that system. 

Third, two years ago, feeling that it was absolutely 
necessary that an organization of national character 
. should have some iiermanent business headquarters, that 
it might not be required to move its valuable records 
around and lose them, as has been the case in the past, that 
question was presented and ihis city was selected as the 
permanent business headquarters of this organization. 
That does not mean, however, that you can not hold your 
annual sessions in any place in the United States that is 
desired; in fact, it might be very wholesome to hold ses¬ 
sions in other places, as it gives this body an opportunity 
to attract public attention to some particular-locality that 
will bring out some particular idea which is especially use¬ 
ful to mining. So that is open to this body, through its 
Board of Directors, by a recommendation of the members, 
to hold any session at such a point as you may deem best 
for this organization. 

Then you can understand further that besides these 
records that ought to be kept somewhere, so that everyone 
throughout the United States would know where they are, 
and know the business headquarters of this Congress, that 
they might address the Secretary at any time, Ave have fur¬ 
ther things that Ave Avant to accomplisli. We Avant a min¬ 
ing library, made up of scientific Avorks ])ertaining to min¬ 
ing, of general Avorks pertaining to mining, a legal library 
pertaining to mining, the best librarA^ in the Avorld on all 
mining subjects, Avhere a man can Avrite to the Secretary 
and se(*ure information upon technical, general and legal 
questions pertaining to mining, and as it Avill be augmented 
in the future, such a library Avill become of great value and 


ANNUAL ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. 145 

should have a permauent location. In addition to this, we 
have the hope, as the years go by, that we can j)lace in the 
headquarters of this Congress a mineral collection, scien¬ 
tific, general, and beautiful, thax will attract the attention 
of the Avorld. Why not have the mining industry collect and 
have for use and examination by those who are interested, a 
splendid mineral collection that will adequately represent 
the mining industry of America? AVhen this question Avas 
first presented at Portland, Oregon, an elderly gentleman, 
in fact tAvo of them, called upon me and said: ‘^If you are 
going to establish a collection of that character, I have a 
collection that it has taken a lifetime to gather; it is in¬ 
valuable; but I am getting old, and I do not Avant it scat¬ 
tered ; I Avant it left where it will be appreciated, and Avhere 
it Avill be useful, and I Avill donate that collection for this 
Congress if you Avill care for it.^’ So said the other gen¬ 
tleman. 

And so I anticipate that there Avill be a magnificent col¬ 
lection here of that character AA^hich aauII be brought up 
from the past, and not Avholly gatliered in the future. That 
collection must be cared for, and preserved, and it Avill be 
augmented and aauII groAA^ AAuth the mining indiistiy and it 
Avill attract the attention of any man Avho is interested in 
mining, or any of its allied industries who might be going 
across this continent, and Avho Avould stop OA^er a day to 
see that magnificent collection and AAdiat it means. 

You can readily understand that to carry out this Avork 
it Avill be necessary to liaA^e a mining building. We haA^e 
disagreed someAAdiat u])on the theory of bringing that into 
a manifestation, but it seems to me that it can be accom¬ 
plished, and a building Avill be erected here in this beau¬ 
tiful city that aauII represent the ideal of mining, and Avhat 

it means to the American people. 

There hav^e been two plans suggested and much dis¬ 
cussed by your Board of Directors; one is called the piac- 
tical plan, or business plan, and the other is called the sen- 
' timental plan. The business plan, as I understand it, 
means that Ave should issue bonds under the name ot this 
Congress, those bonds to be taken up by those avIio will, es- 
peciallv bv members, and the money to be used to erect this 
structure and equip it. I think that about outlines a\ la is 

termed the practical or business plan. 

The second plan represents this idea: That any man 
who contributes his money to an institution of this charac¬ 
ter is entitled to knoAV that that money is J^^dicated l^or a 1 
future time to the purpose for which it is given, that 


146 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


can not be sold out under mortgage or for taxes, but tliat 
it be ijcrjjetually consecrated to the jjurpose for which it 
was donated. 

I understand, and all of us do, that it is necessary to 
have money to erect a structure of this character. The 
question of how soon it is to be erected is not so imj^ortant 
as the character of the building that we will erect and the 
basis on which it is to be erected and preserved. You can 
see, under the sentimental idea, that it means that that 
plan be adojjted which will erect a stiaicture here that will 
be worthy of the name of a mining temple, dedicated to the 
mining industry for all future time. How shall we raise 
the money? I believe that there are American mining men 
who have been so bountifully blessed bv mining that they 
will realize their obligation to this great industry suffi¬ 
ciently, one or more of them, to contribute sufficient money 
to place here a temple that will be an ornament and useful 
to mining for all future years: and not only that, but they 
will furnish sufficient means to endow it so that it will be 
X)reserved in all its beauty, without mar or blemish, as the 
years go by, that they might know that the money contrib¬ 
uted by them was dedicated x>^t'petually to that purxjose 
without fear of its being turned aside from its beneficent 
object by foreclosure or taxation. You can readily under¬ 
stand that it will be necessary to have legislation, possibly, 
in this state to accomxdish that x>urpose, that the title may 
be forever fixed, perhax>s so that it will be free from taxa¬ 
tion, as it ought to be. 

Now it seems to me thai the structure should be of 
the finest architectural tyx^e that could come from the great 
architectural geniuses of this age, beautiful in its adapta¬ 
tion to the purpose for which it is constructed, 7)Ossessing 
in a marked degree the elements of durability, as it will rep¬ 
resent the element of durability that mineral has, as well 
as that which is ornamental, and it will attract the atten¬ 
tion of any man who gazes upon it, and make any man who 
is interested in mining realize that sentiment in mining has 
meaning just as much as it has in dollars. 

You take out of mining, or any great industry, the sen¬ 
timent that attaches to the human heart and you have 
taken from it its most valuable asset. As suggested this 
morning, it seems to me that if the great wealth with 
which this nation has been endowed in its mineral re¬ 
sources, is to be of any value to America in making this 
nation we love so much, enduring and resjjected and loved,' 
it must be because that mineral wealth is used in develop- 





ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


147 


iu^ the highest order of Amerieau citizenship and Ameri¬ 
can home life, which is onr national foundation. 

Then 1 say it is not so much a matter of haste as it is 
a matter of planning, planning for the centuries which are 
to come that a pride in the mining industiw may be stimu¬ 
lated or, inspired in every man who gazes upon that struc¬ 
ture and upon its ei]nipnieut and ujk>u its collection of use 
and beautV, so that he will be 2:1 ad that he is a minin2r man, 
and that through mining we ai“e developing the greatest 
manhood that the world has ever seen. 

Because there is somethiu 2 : about miuin 2 : that makes 
miuiu2r men 2 fenerons and not little. Thev do not 2 :et their 
mouev bv merelv savinir. Auvbodv could do that. But 
thev ofet it bv wisdom of investment of time and talent and 
mouev and skill. That is what makes minino: men 2 :ieat, 
because thev have to do 2 :reat thin 2 :s: thei^efore thev must 
be men that are cainible of thinking of great things: and 
thei*efore I sav these sentimental ideas that underlie onr 
. entire 2 :i‘owth are the richest asset that belouirs to the min- 
iiiu: indnstrv of our 2 :i‘eat couiitrv to-dav, in mv iud 2 :nient. 
Therefoi*e. I believe, as I have talked with some men of 
wealth, men who have succeedeil in life in the business of 
minin2:, and men who have been thon 2 :htfnl, that the monev 
question for the purpose of erecting this mining temple, is 
the smallest part of it. But lay your plans and foundations 
wisely, legally and well, and tlien let men who have pi\>s- 
pered so wonderfully in mining know what you want and it 
will be voui's. I have lived lon^: enon 2 :h to learn this one 
lesson—that while the American people are largely aiming 
in all their ambitious and efforts for money and wealth, 
that is a mere incident, because any mining man, be he 
young or old, when shown that he can handle great mining 
undertakings at a proht. does not ueeil to stop and wonder 
whether he will be Avealthy or not: for wealth will be forced 
upon him as a certainty. It «s just like following the prin¬ 
ciple of mathematics, because if yon folloAv the right prin¬ 
ciple yon cannot avoid the fruitage of that principle. So 
in mining. If you follow the right ideas you nee«I not be 
anxious about wealth: that will come as a necessity. So in 
all departments of life. And so I say that is the thing that 
troubles me the least. The thing that troubles me most, 
and what I would like to impress upon you on this occa¬ 
sion, is that we need your hearty cooperation upon this idea 
and at least your moral support. If I can inspire you Avith 
the one idea that underneath this great organization, as it 
Avill be, and behind this great structure and Avhat it Avill 



148 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


represent, there is a most mighty imj)ulse for good to min¬ 
ing and mining men, then I know yon are willing to give 
it your encouragement and suj)port. So I say that it is the 
sentimental idea underlying this which means tlie most to 
you and me. 

Fourth. There is another thought that I would like 
to develop, and that’ is this: The greatest and most force¬ 
ful principle to-day in all the industrial upbuilding of our 
country is the idea^—or principle, if you please to call it 
that—of cooperation. Nations in former times, as history 
reveals, undertook to upbuild and stand upon the destruc¬ 
tion of their neighbors. War and its victories were sup¬ 
posed to be the culminating, crowning glories of national 
life. Murder was taken as the basis of victory. This con¬ 
ception is false in every sense, as nations are beginning to 
learn, and as nations learn it they will impress more and 
more the idea on the people, that no business man ought to 
expect to succeed and make liis life work a success on the 
idea of the destruction of his neighbor, but by cooperating 
with him. That is the correct theory on Avhich this nation 
must be builded if it is to be enduring. The form under 
wiiicli the great industrial uplift of this nation, which has 
brought it in such bold relief before the other nations of the 
world, must be developed, is the corporate idea, which is a 
form of cooperation of capital, intellect and labor. That is; 
the principle upon which what Ave might term tlie profit¬ 
making form of cooperation is based in this nation. And if 
there is any nation on earth blessed by that form of coop¬ 
eration, it is the American nation. The other nations of 
the world simply stand aghast at our achievements; they 
liave become so vast that no individual Avould undertake 
to construct, equip and operate any of the great transcon¬ 
tinental railroads or any of our other great enterprises that 
have become too great for any one man to handle, and 
therefore it is through that theory of cooperation that they 
are building greater than they knoAV. It is true that to 
some extent the fair fame of our country has been tar¬ 
nished, not by the idea of cooperation or corporation, but 
by the dishonesty and unfairness Avith Avhich it has been 
attempted to apply that idea. It is true that this nation 
has been honored by the majority of tlie great corporations 
of our land, but underneath some of them there has been 
hidden for years that which has been recently brought to 
light, that has almost alarmed the loA^ers of this countiy. 
But the American people are strong enough and great 
enough, and so is this government, to make every corpora- 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


149 


tioii recognize that the government of the United States 
is the ultimate power that will rule in this land. The 
trouble is that those men have sort of built up a busi- 
u(‘ss moral code which lacks all the vitalitv of the old moral 
code. They seem to believe that those ideas are right; 
they do things as the representatives of corporations Avhich 
they never ivould do as individuals. And so vou see we 
liave a code of legal morals growing up in our business com¬ 
munity and a code of morals groiving up among us as indi¬ 
viduals. Now, it seems to me the time has come when we 
must have that form of cooperation which will teach these 
business men that that is not the way to succeed in business 
and make this nation great, and I contend that every man 
and every set of men who represent this great idea and are 
doing so much for themseh es and our country must remem¬ 
ber that the great American people have an interest in 
those things and hai'e a right to inquire upon what basis 
they are conducting those great corporations. And to im- 
j)ress that idea ui)on these business men, you see another 
form of cooperation (coming out all over this western coun¬ 
try, as represented by the American Mining Congress, the 
National Irrigation Congress, the Trans-Mississippi Con¬ 
gress, the Seeing America Congress and these other forms 
of coo])eration. What is underneath those great ideas and 
those meetings? Absolute integrity of purpose. And they 
are trying to bring out and give expression to that high 
ideal of trulv moral and enduring forms of conducting busi- 
ness. This Congress was organized upon that theory, that 
as the re])resentative of the mine owner, the miner and all 
of those allied industries on behalf of the AmeiTcan people, 
it had a right to see, as far as its influence could be brought 
to bear, that the best that was iu mining should be brought 
out. And that is one of its purposes and aims. You will 
readily understand that when this question of the relation, 
between the miner or the shijqier and the smelter arose. 


with the authority of the board, T simply said that those 
mine owners and shi])pers had a right to be heard iu this 
organization. I said that the same right must be ex¬ 
tended to those men who represented the other si<le 
of this question, because, as I find, there are ahvays two 
sides to these great questions and we are just as much in¬ 
terested as an organization in upholding the smelter in¬ 
terests if they are right as we are in upholding the shipping 
interests if they are right; or, if they are wrong, in con¬ 
demning them on either side. • Ro T believe we are opening 
an opportunity where the miner, the shipper and the sniel- 


150 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


ter and other allied industries can come iiere and, if they 
are right, they Avill find we will sui)i)ort them and sustain 
them in that right course, and if th(\y are wrong, we will 
compel them to correct that wrong; and it is upon that 
theory, and recognizing that fact, that this (piestion 
will be presented for your consideration. As I under¬ 
stand it, the smelter interests have met us upon the same 
honorable terms that we have suggested. That indicates 
that we are going to have a very interesting question dis¬ 
cussed on a manly, fair basis. Now, upon this theory, it 
seems to me that this Congress can have a mighty influence. 

Fifth. It does seem to me that this nation must be built 
upon the idea of industry and not Avar. The American gOA^- 
ernnient ought to cooperate Avith the miner in bringing 
about these higher ideas, which mean better citizenship and 
better business methods. We scarcely realize Avhat it means 
to-day, where eA^ery impulse of the great business undertak¬ 
ings seems to be the almighty dollar, Avhen it seems that ev¬ 
ery political impulse of what we call our great men is the al- 
niignty dollar; that underneath it all is the great inquilse 
that should be brought to light and that should dominate 
in all these things, and that is that which brings out Ihe 
best in American manhood and American Avomanhood. It 
seems to me that the time has come Avhen men sliould real¬ 
ize that this nation must be enduring and great because 
it is an industrial nation, because Ave are using Avisely that 
Avhich nature has given us to bring to this country its 
croAvuing glory, its splendid manhood and Avomanhood, and 
out of that a croAvning statesmanship, constructiA^e in its 
basis and in its purposes, and not selfish and destructive. 
So it does seem to me that if this nation is to be areat as an 


industrial nation, the government should haA^e a part in 
this cooperation in order that stability be giA-en to all in¬ 
dustrial enterprise, and that Ave should not have a great 
upheaval of industrial ])rosperity to-day and depression to- 
niorroAV, Avhen men are mined in a year, and the country 
is disheartened and discouraged. These things are not eyi- 
deuce of the Avisdom of our American policy, but of lack 
of Avisdom,—these mighty depressions such as took place 
in 1893'. If we had used the right kind of Avisdom in this 
country that devastating episode Avonld never liaA^e oc¬ 
curred in this land, and it should not occur again, and it 
never Avould if our business AAms conducted upon the light 
theoiy. And if business men Avho are so engrossed in mak¬ 
ing money and making a success out of their enterprises, 
Avhich is commendable, (*annot And time to see these things. 




ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


151 


tlieu we should organize in a manner to call them to their 
attention, and when we do yon will tind they are big enongh 
to heed it. I find, in talking with these men, Avho seem so 
absorbed in their mighty undertakings that they forget the 
morality upon which they should be based, that when yon 
call their attention to it they say, ^‘Yes, yon are right,’’ and 
these great railroad magnates, AAdio are such splendid eid- 
dence of American manhood to-day, and are so imjiorLant 
a factor in the upbuilding of the country, realize that the 
entering AA^edge of saAung them from theniselA^es aauis that 
rate bill passed in (’ongress in the last session. Those men 
are beginning to realize tliat they Avere going crazy, almost, 
on the AAU’ong theory and needed to be brought back lo a 
realization of AAdiat theA^ AA^ere doing. They realize to-day 
that they are prospering as tliey liaA^e never prospered be¬ 
fore, and it Avill ever be so Avhen men act on the right 
theory, and Avhen Ave cooperate together. No man Avants 
any corporation or organization to fail to receive all the 
legitimate profits that belong to it. Is it not a splendid 
thing Avhen you see such magnificent men as James J. Hill 


and see that through his mightv^ energv and intellect he 
has filled the Nortlnvest with a home life that in the hours 
of danger, perhaps, will be the sahuAtion of our country 
in years yet to come? Is it not splendid to see that great 
character go into the Trans-Mississippi Congress and Avarn 
the people of this country of its danger that he sees through 
his thought and experience? Why not have great mining 
men, great railroad men and great manufacturers go into 
these congresses and tell us frankly Avhat tliey have learned 
from their experience and thought on these great (pies- 
tions, and help to guide us aright in our great national and 
industrial life? Those men are great, but they Avould be 
greater if they Avould add that one element to their pres¬ 
ent greatness. They OAve it to the American people, those 
men AA lio have made those magnificent fortunes as a result 
of their intellect and energy, because of the bounties that 
have been heaped ui)on them, to come out on these great 


questions and help the American people to free themselves 
from these blunders that may carry us doAvn into other 
periods of great depression in business and finance. They 
oAve this to themselves and to ^^hese great institutions Avhich 
they represent, and this organization has been organized 
to see if it could not get the cooperation of the American 
government to place in this great industrial, Avhirliiig busi¬ 
ness life, that element of stability and true morality and 
integrity AA^hich Avill make our industrial life enduring and 


152 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


will add the grandest luster to this nation that has ever 
been dreanuMl of by the most ardent lovers of our country. 
Tlien we contend that we have a right as the I'epre- 
sentatives of one of the greatest industries in tliis coun¬ 
try to call attention to this hu'k of coo])eration—be¬ 
cause all of the real enduring material wealth of your na- 
tion comes from mining; when you exhaust your mines you 
never can replace tliem, they are gone forever. I contend 
that this is true—that the American people have in the 
great coal mines of this nation an absolute interest, not¬ 
withstanding the legal title may stand in some individual 
or corporation. Tliey have this interest, they have a right 
to know that that great coal bed will not be wasted, that 
it will be used for the benefit of the industries of this coun¬ 
try and the American jieople. I have read from unques¬ 
tioned authority that in some of the great coal mines of 
this nation there is a terrible waste going on. They have 
smaller veins, abundantly large enough to work, but not 
so* good a grade as those that lie beneath, and they will 
mine out that which is best below, allowing the smaller 


veins to be (*aved in and destroved forever. You have an 

% t 

interest as American citizens, to know that everything 
in those mines that can be legitimatelv used should 
be used by the American ireople now or preserved for the 
future. And as vou go down these great vallevs in the East 
and in the West you see being hurled out into the glare of 
the midnight a mighty waste in our great coke ovens, equal 
to three million horse power, continually pulling, per an¬ 
num, e(|ual to the great Niagara, absolutely wasted upon 
tlie night air. Have we no interest in such things? Is it 
not i)ossible that if the government would cooperate, it 
would help conserve and save and use those great forces 
to better advantage? Shall we go on and Avaste that 
colossal heritage Avhich ought to be used—and science can 
tell us hoAV to use it? You have enormous interest in your 
great forests. The government begins to recognize that it 
must take part in preserving to the American people that 
increment in the great American forests, that they must 
l)reserve it for use in the industries of our country. They 
liave the same interest in the iron and coal and lead mines 
and all the other mines, to see that the best use shall be 
made of tliat great lieritage Avdiich, oiu'e used, is destroyed 
and gone forever. Agriculture may reneAV itself from a ear 
to year, but mining never. And if there is any one duty 
that the American government oAves to the American ])eo- 





ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


153 


pie, it is to see tliat that mighty heritage is ])reserve(l as 
far as possible for tlie use of the American peoi)le. 

Now, this same idea of waste lias been going on in onr 
business methods. Wlien I was a boy, every merchant 
thought he had to succeed by competing with and destroy- 

Kv underbidding, his neighbor. Yo.u remember during 
the days of Jay (tould what destructive methods they used 
in railroad mani])ulation. Kailroads competed by uiider- 
biddiiig and underbidding until each destroyed the other, 
to the detriment of the American people as well as them¬ 
selves. Those things dishonor a great nation as well as the 


men who conduct them. And it seems to me that this gov¬ 
ernment has a right and has an interest and has a duty to 
perform, in these matters, to see that we do not rest upon 
that old destructive competitive basis but upon a construct¬ 
ive basis. Many jieople say we ought to have the old time 
competition, but that means destruction of your neighbor. 
That is not right, in my judgment. But we should build up 
a constructive business theory and let competition rest 
upon tlie element of service rather than destroy your com¬ 
petitor. Then by that idea of servii'e you bring out the best 
in your management as well as in your manhood and give 
the American people the best that American genius can 
give them. So we want constructive business methods as 
well as constructive statesmanship in this country, and 
upon that tlieoiw we claim we have a right to ask the gov¬ 
ernment of these United States to cooperate with us by 
creating a Department of Mining that should be presided 
over by the greatest mining genius of this age, ivlio would 


be creative in his powers and not work along the line of 
bureaus and tributaries. He should not be a tributary to 
the river, but he should be able to create a river of public 
sentiment in all that is best in American manhood and citi¬ 
zenship and industrial life. Upon that theory we claim this 
government should create a Dejiartment of Mining and 
then place at its head the greatest mining character in this 
nation, a man who has proven that he is worthy of that 
great honor. And, therefore, it seems to me that this Con¬ 
gress must render a mighty service to the American ])eoi)le, 
its industrial life as well as our government, in bringing 
out that which is best in our industrial upbuilding. 

Sixth. Another thing which will be of value to you as 
mining men as the years go by is to meet annually at these 
sessions the best mining thought and the best mining man¬ 
hood of this country. I would not exchange some of the 
friendships I have formed through my couuection with this 


154 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Congress for all the money this n«ation could heap upon any 
man. That kind of wealth is enduring, joyous and delight¬ 
ful, and helps to bring out of me that which is best; and it 
would bring out of you that which would give you more sat¬ 
isfaction, through the friendships that you will form for the 
great manhood that is represented by American mining if 
we attract them to our midst and meet them year after year 
and hear their splendid thoughts, shake their magnetic 
hands and realize what a splendid nianhood is represented 
by the American mining industry. 

I have briefly told you my theory upon which this 
American Mining Congress can be conducted; I leave it 
with you to say Avhether you can help to carry it out upon 
that theory, and I ask you at this session to select in my 
stead some one more capable of carrying on this great work, 
because it seems to me that I have about reached my limita¬ 
tions in the Avork I can do, because of lack of leisure, lack 
of money, lack of experience, and I feel that other men, 
more fully equipped, can do more than I can for this Con¬ 
gress. I liaA^e endeavored to inspire every man who has 
come in touch Avith me Avith this idea—that so far as this 
Congress is concerned Ave never should think of self for one 
moment. One man said to me yesterday, ^AVe Avant you to 
serve again because perhaps it Avill help you in a business 
Avay and perhaps politically.’’ I said, ^^Don’t talk to me in 
that Avay. I refuse to discuss those things upon that theory. 
If you will tell me that this Congress will be greater in its 
usefulness because I remain at its head, you may command 
me, but upon no other theory.” 

I hope I have impressed upon you Avhat I term the sen¬ 
timental side of this Congress. I Avould like to talk with 
you tAvo hours, because there is meat in it if I could, but it 
seems to me you understand the purpose of your Board of 
Directors, and I ask you to consider these questions in all 
seriousness that the Avorld may knoAA^ from noAV on that 
this Congress is a dignified, manly body that is going to 
see that justice will be done as far as Ave are able to do it, 
and that Ave may inspire the enactment of those laAvs that 
Avill increase the confldence of the American people in the 
mining industry, because it is one—I Avill say perhaps not 
a great inA^estnient industry, but it is the greatest legiti¬ 
mate speculative industry that the AAnrld has cAnr seen, and 
Ave have a right to bring that to the attention of the Amer¬ 
ican people so that they Avill understand it, as in all busi¬ 
ness ventures there is that element of speculation, but in 
milling success is more certain than in any other industry 





ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


155 


I 

tliat 1 know of in this country. And it is a legitimate busi¬ 
ness undertaking. Look at the great coal and iron and 
lead and silver mines. Do they not represent a mighty busi¬ 
ness speculation on legitimate lines? And it is an industry 
that brings out the strongest that is in onr American man- 
hood, and upon that theory I am entitled to speak through 
3 mn to the American people with what little power I have 
and to sav that underneath this mining indnstrv is the most 
enduring force that is to make this nation great, loved at 
home and respected and feared abroad, of any element in 
onr great national material wealth, and I ask von in all 
yolir discussions to try to bring out those ideas, always 
leaving out personalities. On the train coming here the 
other day, one of the leading lawyers of this city was telling 
me what a magnificent debate they had at the Democratic 
convention, but when he told me what that debate consisted 
of, I said, ^^Can yon shoAV me one element in that debate 
that brought out of the great Democratic party one element 
of greatness or inspired one man with a great purpose for 
the future? Was it not all personal and selfish?’^ He said, 
in humiliation, must admit that.^’ But, if we can place 
onr industrial life upon the right basis, onr political life 
will come out of that, and out of this industrial life Avill 
come great hnmau characters that are worthy of the great 
American nation, and not only states but nations, and not 
only this nation, but nations the AAmrld over will have an 
interest in the great achievements of the great characters 
that are developed, to the true and lasting glory of the 
American people. 

I thank tow for your consideration. 


The Development of the Metal Mining Industry in the 

Western States 


' BY WALDEMAR LINDGREN. 

It seems presiimptiioiis for anyone to take up a subject 
like the one outlined in the title to this paper and attempt 
to treat it within the cramped frame of a short article. The 
development of metal mining in the western states is reall}^ 
a story of the gold and silver mining of the United States, 
worthy of the genius of a historian—a magnificent drama 
of human endeavor full of roinance and tragedy, of pathos 
and even of humor—a story of the valiant struggle of n 
race of pioneers to conquer wilderness. And this drama 
has been enacted in a worthv and ever-changing scene set- 
ting; from the vine-clad foothills of the Sierras it reaches 
to the sage brush j^lains of Nevada and to the crests of the 
Rocky mountains. From tlie tundras of Cape Nome it 
changes to Ooenr d’Alene’s forests and to Arizona deserts 
where the mirage plays Avith pniq^le mountain ranges. 

Perhaps the most Avoiiderfnl fact of this drama is that 
the main part of it has been enacted within the memory and 
experience of men now liAuiig—within the short space of 
fifty-eight years. There was a prelude to it, however: 
Where the northern-most AvaA^es of S])anish civilization 
broke against the ranges of Noav IFexico, dim records exist 
of gold, silver and copper mining as far back as the sev¬ 
enteenth century. And much more recently—in 1828, and 
folloAving A^ears—gold Avas Avashed by Noav ^fexican placer 
miners in the Ortiz and San Pedro mountains; almost sim- 
nltaneonsly Avith the beginning of the gold mining industry 
of Georgia and the Carolinas. 

The First Epoch of Placer Mining. 

Western metal mining began by the a])plication of the 
easiest of metallurgical processes, that of Avashing gold 
from gravel. This first epoch, that of placer mining, Avas 
initiated Avlieu Marshall discovered the yelloAV nuggets in 
his millrace at Goloma, Eldorado county, California, early 
in 1848. We know the stirring story of the mad race to the 
gold fields, of the treasures Avon, and of the foundations laid 
for an Anglo-Saxon civilization on the Pacific coast. The 
first decade Avas pretty fully occni)ied by gulch and river 
mining. In the second decade tAvo important meth- 





METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


157 


o(ls of miliiiig were developed. By liydraidic min- 
carried on in California on a scale never equaled else¬ 
where, whole mountains were washed away and gold to the 
amount of a few cents per cubic yard saved with "profit. By 
drift mining, the gold stored in the bedrock channels of the 
old Tertiary rivers was extracted by means of long tunnels 
underneath gravel and lava cap, in which quicksand and 
water often were the enemies Avliich had to be conquered. 
Both methods of mining are, of course, still practiced, and, 
transplanted by California miners, flourish in other states, 
but their glory began to wane toAvards the end of the ’70s. 

Up to 1859 the gold production had been chiefiy con¬ 
fined to California, but the folloAving decade witnessed the 
first attack on the Cordilleran AAulderness betAveen Califor¬ 
nia and Oregon. Brave bands of prospectors opened a score 
of neAV gold fields from Avhich streams of gold floAved to add 
to the declining production in California. This Avas the 
time of Auburn and Canyon City in Oregon; Florence, Elk 
City, Warren, Oro Fino and the Boise Basin in Idaho; Alder 
Gulch, Confederate Gulch and Last Chance in Montana; 
and Clear Creek and California Gulch in Colorado. All of 
these placer camps flourished in the early ’GOs, but except¬ 
ing the Boise Basin, most of them were short-lived, and 
Avere eA^entually turned over to the patient Chinaman, who 
for many years extracted treasure from the abandoned dig-' 
gings which should rather liaA^e been reserved for men of 


our oAAm race. 

The gradual fading of the epoch of placer mining Avas 
marked by a decrease of gold production from sixty million 
in the early ’50s to a minimum of thirty million 
about 1883. Of a second epoch of placer mining Ave shall 
speak later. / 


Early Epoch, of Gold-Quartz Mining. 

'Gold-quartz mining folloAved closely on the heels of 
placer mining, but here arose an entirely different and 
much more complicated problem, Avhich first the talent of 
the Southern Appalachians, then that of Europe Avas 
called upon to solve. The mistakes Avere many and grieA- 
ous; the ores below the Avater level proved a special stumb- 
linir block, and it Avas not until from 1870 to 1880 that the 
industrw Avas yilaced u]Aon a firm footing. In California 
this Avas accomidished by breaking away from European 
practice by the inA^ention of the 1000-pound, iron-stemmed 
stamp, the broad amalgamation table and the Frue vanner, 
and last, but not least, by the application of Blattner’s chlo¬ 
rination process to the concentrates. 


158 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Ill Gilpin county, Colorado, slightly different processes 
were adopted. Few of the other ])lacer districts of which 
mention was made above iiroved rich in gold (piartz veins, 
and this industry, though important, failed to prevent the 
gradual decline of the gold production. But men were now 
available who understood tlie simpler problems of mining 
and of amalgamation. 

The Epoch of Silver' Mining. 

The search of the wilderness of the hiOs was rewarded 
by the discovery of thousands of deposits, from Montana 
to Arizona. But most of them were not of the familiar 
type of gold quartz veins. They contained strange min¬ 
erals, black or brown masses, which turned to silver in the 
forge, glittering galena, golden chalcopyrite and deceptive 
blackjack—all of them uukuoAvn and most of them Avorth- 
less to the pioneer far from lines of communication. The 
silver ores seemed most promisuig; to these the miner 
turned his attention, and so began the third great epoch— 
that of sih^er mining. 

This ncAv industry was born in Nevada about 1860, 
though it did not reach its maximum until many years 
later. Tuscarora, Austin, Bodie and, greatest of all, Vir¬ 
ginia City, Avhat memories do not these names bring back 
to the old miner? To the north, in Idaho, flourished the 
Owyhee mines, the Custer and the Atlanta districts; to the 
south many a camp in the Mohave desert and in Arizona. 
Confronted by iieAV conditions, the engineer Avas forced to 
deA^elop neAV processes.. It is impossible to OA^er-estimate 
the importance of the Comstock as a school for mining— 
really the first characteristically American school in the 
West. Timbering by square sets to remove large and rich 
ore bodies, modern hoisting and pumping engines, deep 
sinking, the fight against the subterranean heat, all these 
made the Comstock a Mecca for mining men thirsting for 
knowledge. Another important step forAAmrd taken about 
this time was tlie substitution of dynamite for the ordinary 
black powder and poAver drills for hand drilling. The pan 
amalgamation process—Avith or Avithout roasting—and the 
roasting and leaching process, if not new in principle, Avere 
developed to suit local conditions. 

From the palmy days of Nevada in the ’TOs silver mill¬ 
ing steadily declined until at the present time it is a rarity 
to hear the dull roar of the mullers in the iron pans. But 
in spite of the enormous production of the Comstock, it 
Avas not the silver milling of dry ores that glutted the mar- 








159 


METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 

ket; it was the stream of tlie white metal pouring from 
the smelting works. 

Ill historic Gilpin county the smelting industry started 
in 18G8, modestly enough in its beginning and giving little 
evidence of the gigantic iiroportions it was to assume some 
thirty years later. It was found that the despised sulphide 
ores contained copper and lead which could be made useful 
in collecting the silver and the gold not only in these, but 
in rebellions dry ores. Onr teachers in copper smelting 
were Welshmen, while Germans instructed ns in the reduc¬ 
tion of the lead ores. An ever increasing stream of smelt¬ 
ing ores found their way to the ready inaAv of the reverber- 
atories or blast furnaces. In the ’70s several smelters were 
operating in Colorado and the silver-lead mines at Eureka, 
Nevada, were producing richly. Soon Montana and Ari¬ 
zona established smelters and from these times to the pres¬ 
ent day the history of smelting is one of almost continmms 
])rogress, during which our European teachers eventually 
were left behind. Whoever was the inventor of the water 
jacket furnace, it is certain that the ijrinciple was first ap¬ 
plied on a large scale in the United States. The small 
water jacket furnace was evolved and thought for a time 
to be a panacea against all evils; every mine with smelting 
ore must have one. Smelting Avorks multiplied rapidly, 
but alas, the small furnace i)roved an adept in ^Treezing 
up” and many a company came to grief on account of it. 
About 1878 the Leadvilie smelting ores Avere discovered 
underneath the placers of California Gulch and the Colo¬ 
rado silA'er production doubled in a year. Aspen soon 
added its masses of argentiferous lead, ])olybasite and na- 
five silver. Idaho contributed heavily from the rich smelt¬ 
ing ore of the Wood Eiver district. Treasures poured in 
from Park City, Utah. Tons of almost solid horn silver 
Avere mined at Lake Valley, New Mexico, betAveen the raids 
of the Apaches. Steadily the silver output rose and equally 
steadily the price sank. Tlui maximum of production of 
03,500,000 ounces Avas attained in 1892, since Avhich time 
the annual yield has averaged 55,000,000 ounces, but the 
decline in price Avas not checked until ten years later AA^hen 
the record read 47 cents. Nearly one-half of our present 
output is a by-product obtained from smelting of A^ery Ioaa" 

grade copper and lead ores. 

The last chapter of the remarkable story of silver is 
familiar to us. Papidly rising, the price has attained 70 
cents, a fact which may seem surprising, but Avhich is 
really only the logical outcome of lately prevailing coudi- 


160 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


tious. The silver miners will respond to the demand— 
their ability to do so is scarcely to be doubted—and we may 
stand at the beginnini’’ of a second epoch of sil ver mining. 

Develojmient of Ore Concentration. 

And now we come to another branch of the mining in¬ 
dustry—that of concentration. The gold mills had long 
practiced a more or less crude concentration following 
amalgamation, but even after the introdnction of the van- 
ners it left much to desire. Concentration is,most closely 
connected with smelting and the rise of the two arts was 
simultaneous. We followed the patterns of Europe which 
had been brought to great perfection, but perhaps They 
were followed less aptly than in other branches of the in¬ 
dustry. The treatment of great bulks of low grade copper 
and lead ores finally forced an improvement, and the great 
principles of classification and sorting laid down long ago 
by Eittinger are now scientifically developed and applied. 

Condition of Mining Industry Tiventy-Tliree. Years Ago. 

Let us now, just for comparison, glance back at the con¬ 
dition of the western country about 1883: California 
ground out and Avashed a decreasing amount of gold, still 
the proud leader in the field. NeAmda’s smelters and mills 
were decaying. Arizona produced a fair amount of silver 
from the Tombstone, Sih^er King and other districts, but 
the copper industry Avas in its A^eriest infancy at Globe, Clif¬ 
ton and Bisbee, Avhile United Yerde Avas unknoAvn. Colo¬ 
rado was a redeeming feature as to sih^er and lead. True, 
its gold production Avas small, but it Avas bravely held by 
old GiliTin county. Cripple Creek and Creede Avere cattle 
pastures. In the San Juan country, only discoA^ered a de¬ 
cade earlier, some sih^er was laboriously and expensiA^ely 
produced, Avith gold as a by-product, while at the present 
day its magnificent mines annually furnish the AAmrld Avith 
some fiA^e million dollars in gold. 

Utah had its Park City, Horn Sih er mine, and Tintic, 
but Avho dreamed of a great copper industry to rise in the 
dull camp of Bingham, and the Mercur ores lay unheeded 
underneath their blanket of limestone. 

In Montana much silver mining was going on. The 
lead smelters were actiA^e and some silver-gold mills were 
in operation. The first Anaconda smelter Avith its wasteful 
concentration and its rows of Welsh reA^erberatories Avas 
planned; the possibility of Butte turning into an important 
copper camp Avas seriously discussed. 




METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


161 


Ill Idalio prospectors Avere Just treiiehiii^ tlie Coenr 
d’Alene ontero]is after the wild midwinter rnsli to the IMnr- 
ray ^old field. 

As to Alaska, that territory slnnibered throne’ll Arctic 
storms and midnight sunshine; nobody snsiiected iidiat 
Avonld hai)])en on tlon^las Island, at Cape Nome or on tlie 
Tanana, twenty A^ears later. 


The Second Epoch of GoJd l\Iining. 


Tlie Avorld Avoke np—^fii>nrativ(‘ly spiaikino-—one morn¬ 
ing in the early ’80s and found itself decidedly shorf of 
^old; as many knoAV, this is a disagreeable feeling. The 
TTiiited States had barely prodnced thirty million dollars 
in the last year. Idealizing that gold Avas Avanted, miners 
and metallurgists set about to remedy tlie deficit and the 
army of gold enthusiasts rapidly increased. Sih^er is dead, 
long live gold, Avas the cry, and behold, the search for gold 
proved easier than expected. In the last decade of the ])ast 
century the gold production rose especially rapidly; from 
1893 to 1900 it more than doubled. 

This condition of affairs Avas partly due to the engi¬ 
neers, but largely to the prospectors. The early ’90s saAA' 
some Avonderfnl technical ini]iroyenients. First among 
them is the cyanide process, the practical application of an 
old, half forgotten fact that gold is soluble in cyanide of 
potassinm. Its importance can not be oA^er-stated. Devel- 
o]>ing rapidly, it is to-day an ai t in itself, providing a cheap 
method for the redaction of many gold and gold-silver ores 


formerly yielding only partially to ])an amalgamation. But 
most important of all, it provided ready means of extract¬ 
ing the gold from the tailings of the amalgamation and con¬ 
centration mills, intraidable masses Avhich had piled np in 
reproachful heaps or gniltily esca])ed doAvn stream. The 
perfection of the barrel chlorination process, by Avhich it 
became a formidable rival of the cyanide process, also be¬ 
longs to this epoch. 

About this time electricity applied to mining came 
upon the scene. Pnnips and hoists and mills conld now be 
driven at reasonable cost from distant Avaterfalls or coal 
fields. Mining methods improved and iieAV Avays of ex¬ 
tracting great ore bodies, snch as the filling and caving sys¬ 
tems, often replaced the expensive square setting. The in¬ 
vention of the so-called baby drills Avhich conld be used in 
slopes, Avas another notable step forAvard. When steam 
Avas used compound engines replaced Avastefnl single cylin- 

—file catalogue of improvements conld be easily ex- 



IG^ PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

tended. As a consequence of all this, hundreds of deposits 

abandoned bv the early miners at water level were re- 

#-/ ♦. 

opened and made productive. 

But with all, tliis would not have doubled the produc¬ 
tion. The second factor was the prosjiector who soon suc¬ 
ceeded in demonstrating the fallacy of the belief that all 
the ^‘old deposits of this country Avere knoAvn. In Cripple 
Creek—foremost of all—in the Black Hills, and in the 
inaiiA" recenth^ discoA^ered rich districts of NeA^ada, Ave see 
the result of his Avork. 

The Second Epoch of Placer Mining. 

The third factor is Avhat may be called the reviA^al of 
placer inihing. Since 1897 the old scenes of 1849 liaA^e been 
re-enacted Avith modern moditications in Alaska, raising the 
placer production of the territory to about twelve million 
dollars in 1905. NeAV conditions have brought noAV inven¬ 
tions in placer mining—among these we may especially 
mention the mining of frozen ground by steam. Nor can 
it be said Avith assurance that the epoch of discoA^eries in 
Alaska is past; that frosty territory may have further sur¬ 
prises in store for us. MeaiiAA^hile another iuA^ention—the 
gold dredge—began to add to the production of the old dig¬ 
gings in California and elsewhere. In 1904 California pro¬ 
duced over two million dollars from this source. NeA^erthe- 
less the dredge and the dredging deposits haA^e their limita¬ 
tions and the yield from this source will not proAm beyond 
calculation. 

Prom 1900 to 1904 the gold production remained sta¬ 
tionary except for a decided decline in 1903. But 1905 saw 
a sharp increase to about eighty-seven million dollars, and 
it is more than probable that the present year Avill record a 
still higher notch. 

Will the gold production soon reach the hundred mil¬ 
lion mark? Who can say it Avill not Avhile the pioneers are 
still exploring Alaska and Avhile the gold camps are multi¬ 
plying in Nevada? But one fact that should be borne in 
mind by the enthusiasts who predict a hood of gold is that 
the heavy increases do not, as a rule, come from the old 
camps, but from the neAV discoveries. NeAV ore bodies Avill 
ahvays be opened, but, be sure of it, neAV camps will not 
alAvaA^s be discoA^ered at the recent rate. 

9. 

The Development of the Base Metal Mining Industries. 

The interests of good mining are not ahvavs served bv 
the finding of rich ore. True progress in the art is more 
apt to be recorded in the Ioaa^ grade mines, especially those 










METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


163 


(‘oiitaiiliug copper aiul lead 
make the (litt‘erenc(^ between 


where small economies may 
profit and loss, and so it comes 


that the best practice and the most modern inventions may 
be found in our base metal mines. 

Previons to 1880 the West yielded less than a fifth of 
onr total copper production—small as it was—^^and That 
fifth was really only smelted for its pro])erty of collecting 
gold and silver. The co])per production of the western 
states has grown from 5,000 tons in 1880 to about 300,000 
tons in 1900, and it has doubled since 1893. A flood of cop¬ 
per is coming from Arizona and Montana, and in its pro¬ 
duction all the resources of modern mining and smelting 
are employed. Compare, if yon will, the concentration 
mills and giant blast fnrnaves, the converting plants, the 
electrolytic refineries, in short, the industry based on a two 


or three per cent, ore Avith the laborious roasting, smelting, 
re-smelting and refining of the fifteen per cent, ore of 
twenty years ago. The leaching of copper ores, of Avhich 
much Avas expected, remains a subordinate jirocess. The 
Avorld^s ai^petite for copper is groAving at a rate Avhich is 
difficult for the producer to folloAv. In spite of the inceu- 
tiA e of sensational increases in price, the present outlook is 
not faATirable to the increase of production at the rate of 
the last ten years. The copper industry still maintains a 
healthy independence, the output being scattered among 
a considerable number of producers. The Avestern industry 
centers, as is AAell kiioAvn, in Arizona and Montana, but 
Utah, Alaska and California inav soon become their rivals. 

The lead indnstiw, Avhose Avestern centers are located 
in Colorado, Utah and Idaho, has progressed in a similar 
Avay. In 1880 only about 80,000 tons of lead Avas contrib¬ 
uted by the West; in 1904 the amount had groAVu to 220,000 
tons, but the production has failed to advance at the same 
rate as the cojiper output. Less coiispicnoiis are also the 
improA^ements in mining and smelting. It may be doubted 
Avhether the lead resources of the Avestern states ai^e equal 
to keep up the present rate of increase, although the price 
of lead has recently left its time-honored position at 4 cents 
per pound and niOA^ed nj) near 0. The most notable CA^ent 
in this indnstrv is its recent consolidation into the hands 

t' 

of one strong corporation Avliich ])ractically controls the 
output and the price. 

The year 1903 Avitnessed f he beginning of the zinc min¬ 
ing industry in the Cordilleran states, and in three years the 
once-anathemized zinc ores Avere turned into nnexpected 
sources of reAu^nne. It is not difficult to predict a AA'onder- 



164 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


fill future for this industry, the techni(]ue of whicli is yet 
iu its infancy. Chief among tlie problems is the separation 
of zinc blende from pyrites and chalcopyrite; this Avill per¬ 
haps be effected by the new electromagnetic and electro¬ 
static machines. Another xiroblem is the utilization of the 
precious metals contained in the zinc ores. At present they 
are often wasted. Colorado is the largest ])roducer of zinc 
ores, chiefly from Leadville, but also from Aspen, Creede 
and Clear Creek. The output from New Mexico and Utali 
is also rapidly increasing. 

The review of progress would be incomplete Avithout a 
mention of the pyritic smelting brought forward some ten 
years ago bv Avhich the gold and silver is collected in a 
small amount of copper matte Avith little fuel and Avithout 
previous roasting of the ore. In many districts this pro¬ 
cess has materially helped the gold production for cupri¬ 
ferous pyrite is abundant and lean gold quartz can be used 
as flux. 

The Mine and the Reduction Works. 

A monopoly in mining is fortunately a condition fhat 
seems A^ery far from us. But there exists unquestionably 
a tendency in the smelting and reduction industries toAvards 
concentration into feAV hands. Doubtless this is attended 
by some advantages for the miner in the Avay of a readA’ 
market for his ore and often also in a diminution of reduc¬ 
tion costs due to operation on a large scale, but this de¬ 
pendence upon large concerns also carries Avith it certain 
disadvantages. One point relating to the marketing of ores 
may be emphasized: The miner of complex ores, such as 
abound here in Colorado, is Amry apt to sell his ore—con¬ 
taining, say, copper, lead, silver and gold—like so much 
coal at so much a ton as per smelting schedule, and at the 
end of the Amar he is totalh" in the dark as to Iioav much 
of each metal his ore contained, hoAv much he got paid for, 
Avhat he failed to obtain pay for, Avhat he could have saved 
by changing his mining practices in certain Avays. This 
unfortunate habit prevails in a most astonishing degree 
to-day in Colorado, and that not only among the small pro¬ 
ducers, but in many large companies. 

The ideal condition is that of a mine Avith its own re¬ 
duction Avorks. In a vast number of cases this ideal con¬ 
dition cannot, of course, be profitably established, but it 
seems that for some years past the attitude of the miner has 
in this respect been more helpless than actually necessary. 



METAb MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


165 


The EiiKtucipatio}^ from, Europe. 


\\ e would be uuiLirateful not to re(*o!L:,nize our debt to 
Europe—(leriuauy and England above others—for guiding 
the first steps of our metal industry. AVe owe much to 
them, even if their advice, because of a radically dilfering 
situation, sometimes resulted iii failure. Rut we coidd rec¬ 
ognize with pride that in the face of many discourage¬ 
ments, we have worked out our problems in an Independent 
spii'it and always with consideration of actual conditions 
rather than of authority and pattern. It is this (piality, as 
well as their enterprise and energy, that has placed Amer¬ 


ican milling engineers at the head of their profession. It 
should be emphasized that it is largely the American min¬ 
ing schools' in their ra]iid development of the last twenty 
years that have supplied the material for the profession. 
Young men now come out of these schools with an ade- 
• (]nate foundation of elemental knowledge upon which xirac- 
tice can rear its structure. 

But we must confess it was not always thus. The gen¬ 
eral recognition of the value of a technical education in 
mining affairs is a develoxmient of the last tAyenty years. 


Conclusions. 

To look baclvAvard ujion the magnificent achievements 
of the past is useful only as an incentive for further steps 
in advance. That such ste])s are being taken every day of 

the ATUir in eATU A" state of the AYest is a fact Avith Avhich all 

» * 

of us are familiar. In Colorado, Utah, Montana, Nevada, 
California—in all of the Cordilleran states—mining is at 
a high tide—it never Avas more actiAm—and the best prom¬ 
ise lies in the fact that so many iicav mines and districts are 
coming to the front. AA"e knoAV that our states of the AAYst 
can produce more silver, ]>erhaps they can xiroduce more 
gold, ])ossibly more coiA])er and lead. But shall Ave be able 
to maintain tlu^ terrific ])ace set? And to this the Avestern 
spirit, in calm confidence, ansAvers that it can try. It has 
already accomxilished things Avhich once Avere thought im¬ 
possible. 







The Mining and Mineral Resources of Utah 


BY JOHN DERN, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

It is rapidly being demonstrated that in mineral 
wealth Utah ranks at tlie very front among the states of 
the Union. While, through force of circumstances, early 
settlers laid great stress on agriculture to the detriment of 
mining, yet the rapid strides made in late years more than 
compensate for the slow beginning; and now the search 
for minerals has commenced in earnest. 

There has been found to exist in Utah possibly as great 
a variety of commercially valuable minerals as is to be 
found in any like area on the face of the earth. In a paper 
of any reasonable length, only brief mention of some of 
the most important minerals and mining regions will be 
possible. In the production of the four important metals, 
—gold, silver, copper and lead,—in the United States dur¬ 
ing the past year, Utah stood third in silver, third in lead, 
fourth in copper and sixth in gold. In all of these metals 
she showed a substantial increase over the previous year, 
with the exception of lead, and in the increased output of 
copper and in her prospects for enormous further increase 
in ])roduction of this metal, the state has made an enviable 
record. Utah will be, beyond all question, one of the im¬ 
portant future copper districts of the Avorld. 

A feAV of her leading mining districts -will receive at¬ 
tention in this paper. 

Park City. 

This famous Utah cam]), Avhich has long held the repu¬ 
tation of being one of the leading sih^er-lead camps in this 
country, holds its OAvn in tlie advancement of mining in 
the state. The output for the past year amounted to np- 
Avards of one million tons. The Sih^er King, the Daly-West, 
Daly-Judge and Little Bell are the lieaAdest producen'^, al¬ 
though other important mines are coming close behind. 
The ore of this district runs especially high in silver and 
lead, with copper increasing Avith depth. Although much 
of the ore is first-class, or shipping ore, yet some very ex¬ 
tensive concentrating mills are being o]>erated in connec¬ 
tion Avith the larger mines. 






MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


167 


Alta. * 

Alta, tlie once famous Little Cottonwood camp, has 
recenth^ come again into i)rominence. The production of 
lead, silver and gold from the old Emma and Flagstalf 
properties during the ^TOs and early ’80s amounted to mill¬ 
ions. After a period of less activity, recent developments 
ill this district are disclosing enormous ore bodies, and it 
is now claimed that Alta is destined to be a second Park 
City; a natural comiiarison because of their corresponding 
position and similarity of ore. High grade shipping ore has 
recentl}^ been found in the Columbus Consolidated mine, 
and upivards of f30(),000 worth of this product has already 
been shipped to the Salt Lake smelters. Tliis company and 
the Continental Alta are operating concentrating mills on 
the milling ores of their properties. An interesting occur¬ 
rence and also a profitable one for the Continental Alta 
is that of wulfenite, the molybdate of lead, in this district. 
The mineral concentrates readily and has a high value, 
mainly for its molybdenum. Alta is the scene of great ac¬ 
tivity at present. 

The Tintic District. 

A greater number of dividend payers are to be found 
in the mines of this district than of any other district of 
the state. There were thirty-five shippers during 1905, the 
total output of which amounted to 800,000 tons. Among 
the most important producers may be mentioned the Cen¬ 
tennial Eureka, Mammoth, Bullion-Beck, LTncle Sam Con¬ 
solidated, Gemini, Eagle and Blue Bell, Yankee Consoli¬ 
dated, Grand Central, May Day, Swansea, South Swansea, 
Beck Tunnel, Carisa, Eureka Hill and Godiva. 

This district has always been an interesting field for 
the mineral collector as it affords a great variety of rare 
copper and arsenic minerals of decided beauty. 

Beaver County. 

In Beaver county are located the Horn Silver and the 
Cactus mines. The former has produced principally lead, 
silver and zinc ore, while the latter is a copper mine. Many 
other mines of less importance from the standpoint of ore 
produced are to be found in this district. 

The Cactus mine, owned and operated by the Newhouse 
Mines and Smelters Company, has been developed on a 
plan which at first strikes one as financially daring to the 
point of audacity, and yet on closer examination appears 
to be based on a careful scientific study of conditions and 


1G8 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


.('ost. It is stated tliat tin' dcnadopiaeiit of tlie mine, tlie 
building’ of tlie iiee(‘ssary railroad eoiiiK^ctioiis, ])laiit, etc., 
cost the promoters over a million dollars before they were 
in a condition to obtain any return from the reduction of 
their ore. On the other hand, they claim to have in sight 
two million one hnndred thonsand tons of ore whicdi will 
carry, on an average, three per cent. C'opjier. llecently, in 
the development of the pro])erty, an extensive ore body two 
hundred and twenty-five feet wide, of higher copper con¬ 
tent, has been encountered on the three lower levels of the 
mine. The outlook for the future of this district is verv 


gratifying. 

The Gold Mountain district of Piute county is repre¬ 
sented by tAvo important jiroducers, the Annie Laurie and 
the SeAuer Consolidated Gold Mining Company. These com¬ 
panies are mining gold ore averaging $7 or |8 per ton, and 
are extracting the gold by cyaniding and amalgamation. 


The Mercur District. 

At this camp, on the ores of the Consolidated Mercur 
Compaiyy, occurred the first successful operation of the 
cyanide process for the treatment of gold ores on a (‘ommer- 
cial scale. NeAv ore bodies are being opened up in the camp 
and the retreatment of old tailings by the Holderman-Pil- 
ter Tank Company is shoAving interesting developments. 

About one thousand flasks of mercury per year are pro¬ 
duced b}^ the Bacramento mine, in the Mercur district. 

Bingham. 

The rapid and extensive deA^elopment of the past feAV 
3 "ears has placed Bingham not only in the lead of copper 
producing cam])s in ITtalg but among the great copper 
camps of the country. Among her leading ])rodn('ers may 
be mentioned the Tlighland Bo}^ mine of the XTah Consoli¬ 
dated Company, Avhich jiroperty jiroduced during 1905, ap¬ 
proximately sixteen million pounds of copper, and during 
the same year paid over $1,000,000 in dividends. The 
company operates its oavii smelter and reduces upAvards of 
eight hundred tons of ruAV ore iier day. 

• The United States Mining Company is operating a num¬ 
ber of mines in this district, and at its smelter at Bingham 
Junction, in Salt Lake valley, is treating about one thou¬ 
sand tons of (‘Ojiper ore and four huiulred tons of lead ore 
per day. 

The Bingham Consolidated Cop]ier and Gold Company 
ojierates the Commercial, Dalton and Lark and other mines 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


169 


I 

of Biligliam, and at its smelter at Bingham Jnnetion is pro¬ 
ducing about thirteen million pounds of coi)per per year. 

The Yampa Consolidated Company is treating in its 
new smelter at Bingham about six hnndred tons of copper 
ore from its mines in this district. 


A nnmber of smaller companies are snccessfnll^^ oi)er- 
ating in Bingham; many of them are in the shipping class 
and yielding tlie oiviiers handsoinely. 

A most striking feature of copper mining in the Bing¬ 
ham district in the last two or three years is tlie comiilete 
success of experiments made in tlie treatment by concentra¬ 
tion of the so-called disseminaled ores, in which small parti¬ 
cles of copper sulphide occur disseminated throngh altered 
porphyry. Enormous bodies of this class of ore occur in 
Bingham. They were formerly considered of too low grade 
to work, bnt have now been proved to yield 'a handsome 
profit wlien concentrated twenty into one. 

Arrangements are being rapidly completed for tlie 
treatment of 20,000 tons of this ore jier day from Bingham. 
The ore bodies are mined in open workings with monstrous 
steam shoA^els and even Avith the copper content of the 
por])hyry about two ])er cent., the improA^ed methods of 
mining and milling employed make it possible to treat the 
ore at a handsome profit. It is (tlaimed that the Utah Cop¬ 
per Company and the Boston (^/onsolidated Company liaA^e 
oA^er sixty million tons of this class of ore aAmilable for ex¬ 
traction. It is probable that these tAVo Bingham properties 
possess the tAvo largest bodi^^s of (‘opper ore that are 
knoAvn. 


Besides the copper smelters already referred to, the 
American Smelting and Befiiiing Conqiaiiv'S lead smelter 
at Murray is one of Utah’s important metallurgical estab¬ 
lishments. Eight large blast furnaces Avith the necessary 
roasters, sampling mills and additional auxiliary apparatus 
make this the largest lead smelter in the United States. 
Although the United States Mining Company has recently 
started np its lead plant at Bingham Jnmdion, the anionnt 
of ore for lead reduction exceeds the combined capacity of 
the tAVO plants because of the greatly increased capacity of 
the mines. 


With this increased output of the mines of the state 
has arisen the need for increased smelting facilities, and 
every smelter in the Salt Lake valley has either increased, 
or is increasing, its capacity, until to-day the valley is a A^ery 
important smelting center. When the neAV smelters noAV 


170 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


under way are completed, Salt Lake will be one of the 
greatest smelting centers in the world. ^ 

The American Smelting and Refining Company is 
erecting at Garfield Beach, on the Great Salt lake, a smel¬ 
ter which, when completed, will have a capacity of 3,h00 
tons of ore per day. And it is claimed this is only a starter, 
and that this plant will eventually excel in size any other 
plant in existence. The plant now being erected is ihor- 
oughly modern and will cost upwards of two million five 
hundred thousand (jollars. Some of its furnaces have al¬ 
ready been blown in, and the entire plant is being rapidly 
pushed ahead. 

The Utah Smelting Company is building a smelter 
near Ogden. The plant is practically finished, and the fur¬ 
naces will soon be turning out the reduced metal. 

Iron. 


Utah is destined to produce iron and steel for the fu¬ 
ture trade of the Pacific coast and the Orient. Iron ore is 
found in various parts of the state, in Juab and Utah coun¬ 
ties, in Weber and Uintah counties, but by far the most 
extensive deposit is found in Iron county, in southern Utah. 
In this Iron mountain outcrop there is estimated by the 
best exjierts to be 500,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 tons 
of iron ore in sight. The immense deposit covers an area 
fifteen miles long by three miles wide. The ore averages 
from fifty-nine to sixty-five per cent, metallic iron, with 
very low sulphur and phosphorus content. The adjacent 
limestone is conveniently situated with respect to the de¬ 
posits, and Avill serve for a cheap fiux to be used in the re¬ 
duction. In many places the black iron ore stands out 
awaiting the coming of capital and human energy to carry 
it to the furnace and convert it into tlie thousand varied 
commodities of civilization. ‘ Hundreds of acres of this de¬ 
posit will require no stripping, and except where the ore 
outcrops, it is a soft red and broAvn lieniatite. 

This deposit is said to be the largest surface showing 
of iron ore known. 

Good fluxing iron ore, containing some gold, is found 
in the Tintic district and shipped to the smelters in Salt 
Lake county. 


Coal. 

Utah is putting on the market over a million and a 
half tons of coal per year. This supply comes principally 
from the Book Cliffs coal fields, located in Sevier, Emery, 
Carbon and Grand counties, in the east central part of the 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


171 


state. Three other coal fields of less importance are the 
AVeber River, the San Pete, and the Iron county lields. 
Coal has been discovered in many other places in the state, 
but up to date these have only produced coal for local con¬ 
sumption. The number of these discoveries may be esti¬ 
mated when it is known that the state coal mine inspector 


rejiorts 155 coal mines in Utah for 1904. 

The Utah Fuel Company of Salt Lake City owns and 
operates all the producing mines of the extensive Book 
Cliffs field.- The coal field extends over an area of about 
seven thousand square miles, altliough the entire extent is 
not yet definitely known. At every locality investigated for 
a distance of more than one hundred miles in this field, the 
beds of coal range from three to twenty-five feet in thick¬ 
ness, is free from shaly matter, and is decidedly massive. 
Seams or lines indicating stratification are scarcely discern¬ 


ible. Immense blocks of massive coal from these fields 
have made striking exhibits at the recent fairs at St. Louis 


and Portland. No other state in the Union displayed such 
massive chunks of solid coal as were shown bv Utah. 

The coal is of excellent quality, remarkably uniform in 
composition, showing very Ioav ash and sulphur contents. 
That from the Sunnvside mines is readilv burned into an 
excellent grade of coke. The extensive output of these 
mines, amounting to more than half a million tons per 
year, is now entirely used for coking, the product compar¬ 
ing more than favorably with the best Pennsylvania va¬ 


riety. 

The market for Utah coal and coke extends throughout 
the intermountain states and the entire Pacific coast. 


Asphalt. 


Utah is particularly rich in hydro-carbon deposits. Al¬ 
though many occurrences in different parts of the state are 
recorded, the principal deposits of these minerals are found 
in Uintah basin. The northern rim of this basin is in the 
Uintah mountains and adjoining plateaus. In the western 
half of this basin are found the abundant deposits of hydro¬ 
carbon minerals for which Utah is famous. The principal 
occurrences consivst of Uintahite (Gilsonite), wuidzilite, elat- 
erite, ozocerite, maltha and a great variety of bituminous 
or asphaltic limestones, sandstones aud shale. Of these, 
the most important under the present conditions is Uinta¬ 
hite, or the Gilsonite of commerce. It occurs in true veins, 
or fillings of fissures, which cut through the sedimentary 
rock of the region. The uses to which Uintahite and other 


172 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Iiydro-carbons luive been put are numerous. The principiil 
supplies of liydro-carboii miuerals for use in tlie United 
States are deriA^ed from tlie island of Trinidad. Water 
transportation is so much cheaper than shipment b}^ rail 
that the foreign product has been imported at a loAA^er cost 
than that required for the deliA^ery of the Utah minerals to 
the centers of consnmx)tion. This is the only reason for 
the comparatiA^ely small demand for Utah hydro-carbon. 
This Gilsonitej hoAA'CA^er, is of a quality to command recogni¬ 
tion eA^en in the face of cheap transportation .of inferior 
material. 

Demonstrated facts A\mrrant the statement that the 
hydro-carbon deposits of Utah surpass in variety, purity 
and extent all other recorded occurrences. The outcrop is 
in a manner conduciA'e to cheap mining, and transportation 
facilities alone are lacking to make the deposits a bonanza 
of Avealth to the oAvner and a cheap source of valuable and 
most desirable material to the consumer. 

Building Stone. 


Utah is rich in building stone of superior quality and 
in abundance to meet all demands. The Temple granite 
(‘onstitutes tlie greater part of the colossal mountain mass 
at Little CottoiiAVood canyon. Gneiss of Farmington caiiAmn 
and the sj^enite of Ogden canon occur in quantities beyond 
estimate. 

Sandstone of special excellence occurs in Salt Lake, 
in Utah and many other counties of the state. The red 
sandstone of lied Butte canon and the gray Kyane sand¬ 
stone from Spanish Pork canon, along Avith the oolitic lime¬ 
stone of San Pete county, liaA^e been used in many of the 
most imposing bnildings of Salt Lake and other Utah cities. 

Utah onyx, used for interior decoration, is found in 
quantities in various parts of the state. Other ornamental 
stones, as malacliite, azurite, alabaster, satin spar, moss 
agate, chiysocolla, feldspar, jasper, silicihed Avood, and ser¬ 
pentine also abound. 

Limestone makes up the main bulk of the Wasatch 
mountains and other Utah ranges. This rock, besides serv¬ 
ing as an excellent building material, is much used for the 
preparation of lime, as a flux in ore smelting, and as a 
source of carbon dioxide in sugar factories. 

Fire Clay. 


Our state is noAV producing all kinds of refractory fire 
clay products, including firebrick, assay crucibles, muffles, 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OP UTAH. 


173 


sewer pipe, etc., of the highest quality. Althoiioii this 
industry in Utah is young, the superiority of the iiroducts 
lias dei^eloped an extensive market. The fire clay deposits 
of a number of counties are of exceptional purity and of 
almost unlimited extent. The deposits controlled by the 
I'tall Fire Clay Company of Salt Lake City, covering an 
area of hundreds of acres, are situated near Lehi, Utah 
county. Their works are in Salt J^ake City, from which 
place they'Send their prod ucts throughout the intermoun¬ 
tain and Pacific states and east, even to New York. As- 
sayers’ crucibles are now being shipped into Denver bj^ the 
carload. 

Gypsum. 


Utah has immense de})osits of rock gypsum within her 
borders. The most important known deposits occur in the 
central and southern portions of the state, in Juab county, 
east of Nephi, in San Pete and Sevier counties, near Sa- 
lina; in Millard county at White Mountain, near Fillmore, 
and in Wayne comity, in South AYashington. Deposits are 
also known in Enieiw, Kane, (fraud. Iron and AYashington 
counties. 


The Nephi Plaster and AFanufacturing Company of 
Nephi, Utah, is operated under most favorable conditions 
on the Juab county deposits, one mile east of Nephi. The 
deposit is claimed to be the largest and purest natural de¬ 
posit of gypsum ever discovered, and the product of these 
works is recognized and sought after as plaster of the high¬ 
est grade wherever it has been used. The deposit is so sit¬ 
uated that it can be quarried from the mountain, run 
‘through the mill and loaded into tlie cars below more eco- 
lioniically than at any similar plant in existence. 


Their market extends northward to' Vancouver and 
Victoria, through the Pacific states and throughout the 
intermountain region. Their products are finishing plaster, 
fibred and infibred hard wall, casting and moulding plas¬ 
ter, dental plaster and land and grain plaster. Their pro¬ 
duction amounts to about one hundred thousand jiounds 
per day, or about six hundred cars per 3 ^ear. 


Sulphur. 


Native sulphur occurs in extensive deposits at Cove 
Creek, Alii lard county, Utah. The crude ore averages 
twenty per cent, sulphur as it comes from the vein, although 


in places masses of pure sulphur are to be found. The prod¬ 
uct of the Utah mines is exceptionally pure, being free from 
arsenic and other deleterious substances. The deposits are 


174 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


now owned and ojierated by tlie Utali Siili)liur (Company of 
Salt Lake City, wlio also have complete^ reliniiig works at 
the mines. The production for 1906 is estimated at 1,000 
tons, embracing a number of different products. Crude 
sulphur, the product obtained by simply melting the sul¬ 
phur from the crude rock by means of heat from steam, 
powdered sulphur, sublimed flours of sulphur, and rolled 
brimstone, all of which are products of sublimation of the 
crude and melted substances. With the development of 
the West, the demand for Utah sulphur is rapidly increas¬ 
ing. At present the market extends over the intermountain 
states, Arkansas, Texas and California, where the sulphur 
is used for sheep dipping, tree and vine spraying, fruit and 
liop leaching, and for sugar reflning. 

Vanadium and Uranium. 

Tliese rare elemeiits often occur together. Their value 
for commercial uses has stimulated the search for their 
mineral compounds. A'anadium, for which there is a de¬ 
mand in hardened steel, is scarce. It is said to be manv 
times more effective than tungsten in hardening and tough¬ 
ening steel, and is, therefore, much sought after. Uranium 
is valued commercially for its ‘use in the manufacture of 
porcelain and glassware, and its radio-activity makes it 
extremely interesting scientifically. The principal source 
of the minerals of vanadium and uranium is an extensive' 
area in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. The 
vauadiferous minerals of Kichardson, Utah, are the rich¬ 
est deposits of vanadium ore^ yet discovered in the United 
States, and have a high commercial value. They are chiefly 
compounds of vanadium with copper, arsenic, barium, or 
calcium. These high grade vanadium ores are associated 
with carnotite, the interesting radio-active mineral. Be¬ 
sides carnotite, otlier minerals containing vanadium, and 
also uranium, are found in numerous localities over the 
Kichardson area, and in other parts of the state. 

Salt. 

There are billions of tons of salt in the waters of Great 
Salt lake, and extensive deposits of rock salt in the moun¬ 
tains of the state. From these sources the state is produc¬ 
ing yearly about thirty-five thousand tons. With the in¬ 
creased facilities for transportation noAV promised by the 
advent of the numerous railroads throughout the state, 
this output can readily be increased, in the near future, 
manv fold. 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


175 


The Inland CTvstal Salt Company of Salt Lake City is 
harvesting almost the entire salt output of the state from 
the waters of the Great Salt lake. Their works are located 
near the famous Saltair resort. The water of the lake is 
pumped b}" centrifugal pumps into shallow jionds, where 
solar evaporation in the dry summer months carries off the 


water, leaving the crystal salt behind. The evaporating 
season lasts about one hundred days, during which time 
there is constant i)iim])ing of the brine into the ponds, the 
aim being to keep the evaporated solution from becoming so 
concentrated as to deposit other solid matter with the crys¬ 
tals of sodium chloride. AAdien the season is over, the 
mother liquor is flushed out of the ponds, leaving a layer 
of soft crystals from three to six inches deep, covering the 
entire area of the shallow ponds. An average crop is four 
and one-half inches thick, amounting to 700 tons of salt 
per acre. Each pond has been previously lined with a thin 


deposit of salt by this same process, and the salt lining has 
become veiw densely caked, so as to form a Arm bottom to 
the regular salt crop. Thus the crop can be readily shov¬ 
eled up into windrows and from here into cars and barrels, 
and then dumped into piles of about one thousand tons 
each. These i)iles soon become covered Avith a A^eiw hard 
crust. The outer layers partly dissolve with the rains, and 
the crvstals become cemented together A^erA^ flrmlv around 
the outside of the pile. These piles may be left Avith safety 
for A^ears, if need be. Much of this crude salt found a mar- 
ket in the past for chloridizing, roasting and leaching of 
ores. At present there is little call for salt for these pur¬ 
poses, but Avith the advance of metallurgical experimenta¬ 
tion on Avet methods, there seems to be promise of a re¬ 
vival of wet methods, Avhereiu much sodium chloride Avill 
be required. 


For table use the salt is refined at the Avorks. The pro¬ 
cess consists in crnshing, drying and AvinnoAving Avhile hot. 
The efficiency of the fans in separating the efflorescent sul¬ 
phates from the crude salt is abundantly demonstrated by 
a comparison of the analyses of crude and refined products. 
The refined salt is groiind and sifted to giA O iirodncts of the 
proper degree of fineness, as required for packing, table and 
dairy use. The salt so prepared is of exceptional purity, as 
the following analysis shows: 


176 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Per cent. 


Sodium cliloride (pure salt). 99.27 

Calcium sulphate ..958 

Insoluble matter.007 

Moisture . 008 

Calcium chloride . Trace 

Magnesium . Trace 


100.00 

The dense brine of the (Ireat Salt Lake (‘onstitutes a 
vast mine of chemical riches, offering a vast variety of 
chemical products, other than salt, at the minimum cost 
of preparation. The total solid matter in solution in this 
water amounts to about 21 per cent., or six times that of 
sea water. The solid consists principally of sodium and 
magnesium salts. The chlorides and sulphates predomi¬ 
nate. Next to salt, sodium sulphate claims attention. This 
mineral, known as mirabilite, crystallizes from the lake 
water in the Avinter, Avhen the temperature I’eaches 20 to 30 
degrees Fahrenheit. Hundreds of thousands of tons of this 
material are deposited in the lake bottom and are washed 
upon the shore Avhenever the temperature reaches the low 
point giA^en. This sulphate is of importance in the manu¬ 
facture of soda. 

In the ordinary Le Blanc process for the manufacture 
of soda from common salt, the first stej) is the coiiA^ersion 
of sodium chloride into the sulphate by means of sulphuric 
acid. From here on the process is a simple and cheap one. 
Along the shores of our lake can be taken up, in unlimited 
(piantities, this sodium sulphate, ready for coiiA^ersion into 
the much called for carbonate, or the soda of commerce. 
This is onlA^ one of the maiiA’^ substances found in the brine 
of Great Salt Lake that Avill seiA e as a source of great in¬ 
come to those Avho shall develop the necessary industries. 

Security of Investments in Utah. 

FeAV labor troubles have interfered Avith the Avorkings 
of the mines in this state. The sentiment of the people is 
against strikes and lock-outs; and in almost every instance 
of difference betAveen the employe and the employer, the 
difficulty has been settled amicably, Avithout resort to 
strikes, and the susi)ension of operations. Capitalists are 
noAv appreciating this favorable relation betAveen capital 
and labor in Utah, and are shoAving a preference for our 
state as a place to invest their money. 









MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


177 


Opportunities are numerous for investment in the un¬ 
developed industries arising from our extensive mineral 
wealth. 

Her mineral deposits already discovered, with those 
yet undiscovered, the wealth of her briny sea, and the 
metallurgical treatment of her mineral products, along 
with the stability of capital and labor in Utah, invite men 
of means to make investment in the state ivith assurance 
of satisfactory returns. 


The American Institute of Mining Engineers 


BY R.'W. RAYMOND. 

Having been almost continuously an officer of this so¬ 
ciety since its organization in 1871, I may claim an intimate 
acquaintance with its history and administration; and I 
welcome the opportunity to explain in this contribution 
some features of its i)lan which are not perfectly under¬ 
stood by the i)ublic. Uufortuuatel}^, time is not at my com¬ 
mand for an elaborate and complete discussion of the sub¬ 
ject, and this sketch must necessarily be brief and frag- 
nieutary. 

t/ 

The period following the War for the Union was char¬ 
acterized b^^ great activity in mining, and a great demand 
for mining engineers. The niining indnstr}^ of the Pacific 
states had been, ever since the discovery of gold in Califor¬ 
nia, the leading factor in the settlement olthe country, the 
improvement of coinmnnications and the establishment of 
civilized communities, Avith auxiliary agencies of commerce 
and manufactures, as Avell as education and religion. The 
governmental aid given to the Pacific raihA^ayS, on the 
ground that these lines Avere military necessities for the 
handling of the Indian tribes and the maintenance of soa^- 
ereign federal authority throughout the vast Pacific slope, 
could scarcely have been secured, had not the mineral re¬ 
sources of that region giA^en it a thrilling romantic interest 
and a boundless Amlue in the eyes of the people of the East. 
At the same time, the exploitation of the AA^estern mines and 
the rapid deA^elopmeut of coal, iron, copper and lead mining 
in the older states, called for trained engineers; and suc¬ 
cessive technical schools Avere established in response to this 
demand, Avhile technical journals flourished, and became 
more and more devoted to problems of theory and ])ractice,, 
as Avell as records of neAv enterprises. ^leanAvliile, the 
actual mining engineers of the United States—those avIio 
Avere doing the great Avork of mining both East and West— 
could not be said to form an organized profession at all. 
There AA^ere a feAA^ graduates of foreign schools; many ciAul 
engineers Avho had turned their attention to mining; a much 
larger number of miners from CoriiAA all or Germany Avho 
had risen to be mine captains and ^^experts;’’ and a still 
larger number of self-taught American miners and prospec¬ 
tors, ignorant and jealous of book-knowledge, and over- 





AMERICAN INSTITUTE OP MINING ENGINEERS. 


179 


conscious of superiority in uiauy respects to its possessors 
and professors. This lieterogeueous multitude liad no com- 
111011 ground for tlie iutercliauge of views and experiences, 
and uo organized common feeling inducing them to seek 
and occupy such a ground. The technical journals and the 
technical schools alike needed to be reinforced in their en¬ 
deavors by some agency which should promote personal ac¬ 
quaintance and mutual esteem among the men in whose 
hands were the mining operations of America. . 

It was my realization of this feature of the situation 


that led me, as the editor of the Engineering and Mining 
Journal, to attend at Wilkes-Barre, in May, 1871, the meet¬ 
ing called by three mining engineers, Eckley B. Coxe, Rich¬ 
ard V. Rotlnvell and Martin Coryell, to organize an associa¬ 
tion. As a beginning, in default of a duly elaborated 
scheme to suit onr special case, the Rules of the North of 
England Institute of Mining Engineers were adopted in sub¬ 
stance, and the name of ^^The American Institute of Mining 
Engineers’’ was chosen for the new society without debate, 
as a matter of course. The rules were subsequently re- 
Avritten; but the name, though in some respects a misnomer, 
since it does not fully describe the scope of the Institute, 
has survived, and has become so dear to the members and 
so well knoAvn to the world that it is not likel}^ to be 
changed. A lucky misnomer is sometimes a ‘hnascot.” 

At the outset, a most important question arose, the set¬ 
tlement of which involved the Avhole future of the society. 
Several educated engineers protested against the admission 
to full membership of persons not belonging to the profes¬ 
sion, and not possessed of a certain degree of professional 
standing and experience. They could not insist upon the 
degree of M. E. or E. M. as a qualification. They did not 
themselves hold that degree; but they felt that C. E. or its 
equivalent in certified experience and knoAvledge ought to 
be required. In a Avord, they did not Avish to recognize as 
felloAV-members (tliongh they Avonld consent to admit as 
associates) common miners, foremen and self-educated mine 
captains. 

There Avas much to be said in favor of this feeling. Pro¬ 
fessional societies usually represent professions, and mem¬ 
bership in them is accepted as a guaranty of professional 
standing. Consequently they make careful ])reliminary ex¬ 
amination into the training and achievements of candidates, 
/ind sometimes impose a period of qiiasi-probation as 
‘^junior” before advancement to full membership. All Ihis 
is excellent, for the purpose for Avhich it Avas designed. But 


180 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


that was not the jjuriiose of the Wilkes-Barre meeting of 
1871; and if that had been its purpose, the inovement would 
have failed. This point is so important as to wanaint fur¬ 
ther explanation. 

There was at that time no such thing in the country as 
a distinct profession of mine engineering, numerous enough 
to support an active and useful society. Any attempt to 
create one by means of a society Avould have resulted in a 
small, select (i. e., self-selected) coterie, barren of inlluence 
and outside of practical connection with the national mining 
industry. 

The pressing need of the hour was not the segregation 
of a select bod}^, but the cordial co-operation of all the rep¬ 
resentatives of a great industry or group of industries. This 
could only be effected by bringing together on terms of 
friendly equality the school-men and the field-men, and per¬ 
suading the latter to do what they' were naturally shy and 
reluctant in attempting—namely, to tell what they knew, 
for the benefit of all. Unquestionably the self-educated, 
practical mining men and furnace-men at that time knew 
more than the school-graduates about the actual facts of 
American ore-deposits, mine-workings and 'furnace-manage¬ 
ment. It was not the nominal manager, but the Cornish 
captain, who knetv the mine; it was not the chemist, but the 
founder who ran the furnace. If these practical men were 
slighted at the beginning, they would stand aloof, giving no 
aid in the way of fresh facts, and leaving the theorists to 
exchange their speculations with little profit, like the tra¬ 
ditional boys confined in the garret, who professed to have 
made money by swapping jack-knives, back and forth. 

Again, the work of publishing and distributing useful 
information could only be done upon an influential scale by 
a society with a large income; and this would require either 
a select, small society supported by heavy annual dues, or 
a numerous membership paying small dues. Beyond ques¬ 
tion, the latter was both easier to secure and more fruitful 
of infiuence as well as revenue. The result of thirty-five 
years’ experience has left no doubt on that head. What 
the Institute has given to its members in the way of publi¬ 
cations for the annual fee of flO may be confidently com¬ 
pared in both quantity and quality with the similar publi¬ 
cations of any society in the world, supported by annual 
dues of twice or thrice that sum. 

Another point is worthy of note. A large membership, 
even if it be not narrowly confined to' men of a certain 
ascertained standing in a single profession, furnishes an 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS. 


181 


attractive and inspiring* public to ambitions antliors. A 
famous engineer (member of several other American and 
foreign professional societies, as well as of our Tnstifcnte) 
once said to me, ‘^Tlie Institute is an association largely 
composed of young men with reputations to win, instead 
of older men with reputations to maintain. The conse¬ 
quence is that your members are eager to communicate 
what they know or think, instead of being afraid to ^give it 
away,’ or reluctant to incur criticism by offering iirofes- 
sional constribntious not moiinmentally complete and cred¬ 
itable to their acknowledged professional standing.” 

The Transactions of the Institute illustrate the truth 
of this keen, discriminating observation. Some of their 
most valuable papers have come from men who could not 
have claimed membership in more ^‘^select” societies, and 
who wrote, not because tliei^ were alreadv known, but in 
order to make themselves known. 

At all events, the force of circumstances diidated, and 
the experience of thirty-five years lias approved the deci¬ 
sion which admitted to membership in the Institute all 
persons trained for, or practically connected with, the pro¬ 
fessions and industries which it represented. 

But this decision involved the simultaneons adoption 
of another. In 1871 (and the same is true to a more limited 
extent to-day), the American mining engineer had to know 
many things besides mine-engineering proper. He was ex¬ 
pected to do, or intelligently to superintend, the work of 
assaying, milling, smelting and general construction and 
management. Moreover, a man who was running the mine 
to-day might be superintending the furnace to-morrow. 
Hence it was found both advisable and practicable to iu- 
clude in the membership of the Institute those who were 
connected with geology, chemistry, and civil, mechanical or 
electrical engineering, as applied to mining or metallurgy. 

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers are both 
younger than onr Institute, and, in some sense, its offspring. 
They have fields of their own, which they most creditably 
occui)y; yet great numbers of their members still seek or 
retain inembership in the Institute of Mining Engineers, 
and the Institute has had no reason to close the doors once 
opened to such candidates. 

The original scheme of the Institute led to an unpre¬ 
cedented growth, both at home and abroad. The member¬ 
ship increased rai)idly from year to year, and now numbers 
more than four thousand names, distributed throughout the 


182 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


world. This forced upon tlie iiianageiiieiit two additional 
problems: one of government, the other of policy. 

Tlie meetings of the Institute were, from tJie begilining, 
peripatetic. Nothing else could have prevented its degen- 
emtion into a local organization, or kept alive the national 
sympathy necessary to its success. Until its incorporation 
in 1905, it had no official headquarters aside from five office 
of its Secretary, which had been located, without any offi¬ 
cial action, wherever the Secretary hapiiened to reside,— 
first at Lambertville, New Jersey, then at Philadelphia, 
then at Easton, Pennsylvania, and finally at New York 
City. It was manifestly impracticable to leave the decision 
of business questions to the vote of such members as might 
happen to attend a meeting in some particular locality. 
Consequently^ almost absolute powers were given to the 
Council, chosen annually by postal ballot. 

But such a grant of absolute power demands a pre¬ 
cise limitation of its sphere; and accordingly the Conncil of 
the Institute Avas prohibited from any act or utterance 
outside of the management of the proceedings of the so¬ 
ciety itself, namely, the holding of meetings, and the ac¬ 
ceptance, publication and distribution of papers. Grad- 
uallv it came to be recognized that the Institute itself, as 
represented by the members attending a given meeting, Avas 
still less competent than its representative Council to ex- 
pi ess opinions or approve propositions of any kind outside 
of its oAvn immediate affairs; and the final result Avas the 
present rule: 

^‘The Institute shall not assume responsibility for any 
statements of fact or opinion advanced in the papers or 
discussions at its meetings. Neither the Council nor the 
Institute shall officially approve or disapproA^e any tech¬ 
nical or scientific opinion or any proposed enterprise, out¬ 
side of the management of the meetings, discussions and 
publications of the Institute, and the conduct of its busi¬ 
ness affairs bv the Board of Directors.’’ 

• ■ 

This policy is not only approved by our experience, 
but also founded in a correct tiieory of the relation of the 
Institute to its indiAudual members. 

A man Avho joins tlie society for the sake of the bene¬ 
fits olfered by its publications and its felloAA^ship* has a 

*FOOTNOTE.—I must be content with a mere passing notice of the 
advantages of this fellowship, which has proved in innumerable cases the 
sufRcient motive for a frank interchange of information, quite outside 
of the formal published papers and discussions. It has been for many 
years my practice as Secretary to refer members desiring information 
which b did not possess to other members who had it. And I can recall 
no case in which such an appeal did not meet a courteous response. 




AMERICAN INSTITUTE OP MINING ENGINEERS. 


183 


right to the assurance that neither his name, his money, 
nor the intlnence of the organization which both his name 
and his money have strengtliened, shall be used to promote 
any outside cause whatever. No matter liow ignorant or 
prejudiced he may be, he is entitled to be protected against 
unwilling partnership in an opinion, or a movement, or an 
enterprise, which he has not contemplated. 

Several instances from the earlier history of the Insti¬ 
tute will further illustrate this principle. 

In the lirst decade, there was a brilliant discussion be¬ 
fore the Institute of the question ^‘What Is Steel?’'; and in 
187G an International Committee of high distinction re¬ 
ported for our adoption a new nomenclature for the prod¬ 
ucts of the iron blast-furnace, the Bessemer converter, the 
forge and the crucible. But, underneath the technical ques¬ 
tions involved, there were important questions of tariff 
classification, involving, perhaps, millions of dollars; and 
a sweeping decision of the Institute on either side of the 
case would have been used in argument before the United 
States Treasury Department, to the injury of the business 


interests of many members. This result was wisely averted 
by a refusal to promulgate any such general decision. 

Later, there was a memorable debate, concerning the 
metric system of weights and measures, on a resolution rec¬ 


ommending Congressional legislation to make this system 
obligatory. Here, again, the proposition was passionately 
opposed by members whose business interests would, at 
least in their own opinion, be injuriously affected by it, as 
well as by those who, on principle, disapproved It. In this 
case the speeches on both sides were reported in the Trans¬ 
actions; but when the time came to vote on the resolution 
itself, the presiding ofticer declared it to be out of order, as 
not included in the declared purposes of the Institute, and, 
therefore, declined to put it to vote. This decision, sus¬ 
tained by the meeting, may be said to have settled, once for 
all, the principle which, after several similar precedents, 
was formally embodied in the rule already quoted. 

It is evident that no rule of this kind could be enforced 
if there Avere any recognized distinction as to the merit of 
the scheme or proposition seeking support. Such a scheme 
or proposition, if of such a character as, almost beyond 
doubt, to command the hearty assent of all members, Avould 
surely constitute an excellent precedent and illutration for 
the support of the existing rule. 

Ever since the Institute became successful, influential 
and Avidely known, innumerable attempts have been made 


184 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


ill entire good faitli, to secure the aid of its name and au¬ 
thority for propositions honestly believed to be (as, in most 
cases, they were) meritorious. Kecomniendations that Con¬ 
gress should make appropriation for the representation of 
the United States mineral industry at this or that exposi¬ 
tion at home or abroad; that the Institute should unite with 
this or that society to form a joint committee on national or 
international standards, etc., etc., have all been ‘durned 
down”—the more meritorious, tlie more promiitly. It was 
the only wa^^ to preserve our jjlan and purpose. 

Tins statement imn^ explain why the Institute and its 
officers, as such, have taken no part in the successive meet¬ 
ings of the American Alining Congress, Avith the imrposes 
of which a large number of our members are in SAunpathy. 

• 1 feel bound to add that the restricted ])olicy aboA'e 

outlined has had someAvhat unexpected and most gratifying 
results. The Institute has been the forum, and its Trans¬ 
actions the records, of the free discussion of*nearly every 
important and pertinent (question connected Avith the prog¬ 
ress of modern engineering. Expressing no opinions, Ave 
hear all, and furnish to the iiroiioser of nny reasonable novel 
vieAv an appreciative audience. And no student of the iirac- 
tice of the last thirty years in any department represented 
by our membership can afford to overlook the authoritatiA^e 
and suggestiA^e contributions made by us to the technical 
literature of this generation. 

There are maiiA^ other features of the historv, tradi- 
tion and conse(pient xiresent administratioa of the Insti¬ 
tute, concerning Avhich I Avon Id gladly speak, and feel my¬ 
self ex(‘eptionally (pialiffed by circumstanced to speak; but 
I cannot thus add to the ])reseut sketch, Avhich, I venture to 
hope, has explained (and even justiffed) the three leading 
lieculiarities of the Institute, namely. 


1. Its Avide and liberal conditions f)f membership. 

2. Its absolute government bA' a central bodv, i. e. its 

<7^ e f' 7 

representative, rather than purely democratic, organiza¬ 
tion. 

3. Its strict limitation of the functions and ])OAvers, 
both of the governing body and of the Institute as a Avhole. 


Each of these features has been often criticised, usuallv 
in perfect good nature and good faith. I shall not uoav 
undertake to offer any further defense of them, not inci¬ 
dentally implied in the foregoing explanation. But I think 
I may fairly claim to have shoAvn that they came into exist¬ 
ence as the natural and necessary results of the conditions 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS. 


185 


their origin. Even if soiuetliing better might 
have been imagined, nothing better eoiild have been done. 

Finally, may I not modestly, but confidently, claim that 
the results of this enterprise, whatever may have been the 
defects of its ])lan, have been, somehow or other, such as 
to warrant ns in ^d<4ting well enough alone’^? 


Recent Improvements in the Cyanide Process 


BY F. L. BOSQUI, 

I will preface these remarks stating that this is 
not to be, strictly speaking, a technical paper. I take it 
that the majority of the delegates composing this Congress 
are practical mining men, interested, perhaps, less in the 
, tecliniqne of mining, than in the maintenance of the indus¬ 
try on a high plane of honesty and decenc}^ For the tech¬ 
nical details of metallnrgical processes we can all go to 
the transactions of the societies or to the text books. My 
purpose is to present, briefly and intelligibly, a resume of 
the evolution of an aid which has recently undergone so 
many rapid and startling changes, and one which has at¬ 
tained a degree of popularitj' enjoyed by no other depart¬ 
ment of metallurgy. 

The apparently simple combination of a leaching tank, 
a cyanide solution and a zinc precipitation box offers 
an irresistible lure to the imagination of the budding 
metallurgist and chemist. The novelty and mystery of the 
chemical reactions involved, the astonishing practical re¬ 
sults achieved, even in the hands of incompetent operators, 
were, from the inception of the process, attractions temx>t- 
ing enough to draw assayers and chemists away from the 
routine of their work into a held abounding in xiromise and 
good salaries. The result was a plague of cyanide men, and 
the erection of all kinds of cyanide jilants. The farmer’s 
boy, abandoning the jilow for the rosy seductions of the 
neighboring mining camii, set up a barrel in a shed to ireat 
the few tons of tailings deposited on a creek bank on his 
father’s land; while in Sontli Africa, fabulous sums of 
money were sx)ent in the erection of sx^lendid x^hints, con¬ 
taining the most exx^ensive equipment, and requiring tiie 
highest mechanical and metallurgical skill. 

It was nearly twenty years ago that tAVO British chem¬ 
ists, MacArthnr and Forrest, made the first x^i’ncticai ap- 
])licatiou of the dissolving action of a dilute cyanide solu¬ 
tion on gold. The x)i"ocess was at once adoxded in NeAV Zea¬ 
land and South Africa. In the latter country, xinrticnlarly, 
all the conditions Avere most favorable to its success, and 
the enormous profits yielded by the pioneer x)lants at once 
establislied cyaniding as an art of tlie greatest commercial 
imxAortance. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


187 


The procedure adopted in the Transvaal was simple in 
(‘oinparison Avith recent modifications of the process. The 
tailing from the stamps, after h^Tlranlic concentration of 
coarse sand and snlphnrets, AAas gathered in leaching 
tanks; the slime overtloAv Avas rnn into huge shalloAv A^ats, 
the surplus Avater decanted, and the slime subjected to a 
series of agitations and decantations until the mineral 
Avhich it AA as found economical to extract, Avas finally iire- 
cipitated out of the solution. 

At first zinc shaAdngs Avere nniA^ersally used as a jon- 
cipitant, but this AAms sniierseded by a\ hat Avas knoAvn as 
the Siemens-ITalske process, or the electrolytic deposition 
of the gold on lead sheets. TTiis AAms adojited in all the rep- 
resentatAe plants; but its popularity soon Avaned, OAving 
to the prodiiction of troublesome by-products, the awkAvard- 
ness of the clean-np and bullion recovery, and the unsat¬ 
isfactory deiiosition as compared Avith that obtained on zinc. 
Its chief adA^antage Avas that it recoA^ered the values from 
extremely dilute solutions; but this advantage Avas nulli¬ 
fied by Betty’s discoA^ery that zinc sliaAdngs, if dipped in a 
Aveak solution of lead acetate, would accomj^lish the same 
thing. 


For a long time no radical changes Avere introduced 
in cyanide practice in South Africa. This Avas due to the 
serious bloAV given the mining industry by the Boer Avar; 
and, also, in part to the conservatism of metallurgists on the 
Band and their reluctance to adopt important innovations 
originating in Anstralia. Tiie brothers Denny Avere tin* 
first of the Band metallurgists to recognize the importance 
of finer grinding; and their energetic advocacy of tube¬ 
milling and filter-pressing finally resulted in the accept¬ 
ance of Anstralian methods in the Transvaal. 

It Avas during the lethargy of cyaniding on the Band 
that the filter iiress and the tube mill Avere introduced in 
the sister colony. In this connection the interesting fact 


may be noted that all the important devi(*es introduced into 
cyanide practice had been preAdonsly used in other indus¬ 
tries; even the pipe distributer used for distributing tail¬ 


ings in a leaching tank aa^as an adaptation of the common 
lawn sprinkler. The filter ])ress had been used for years 
to filter solutions in the refining of sugar; and the tube mill 
had been in use as a dry grinding machine in the cement 
industry. • 

The metallurgists of Australia neAmr took kindly to 
decanfation in slime treatment, and the introduction of the 
filter press Avas the result. In justice to the Band operators, 


188 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


liowpver, it must be said tliat dc'eaiitaiioii was very well 
suited to existing (‘oiiditions. Tli(‘ ])r()du(d they were han¬ 
dling' Avas too loAv grade to stand the ])rohil)itiAm cost of 
filter pressing. In AVest Australia the press Avas applied 
to a nmeh higher grade product, and one which lent itself 
more easily to press Avork. 

The obAUous objection to the older type of filter presses 
is the high cost of installation and operation; but they, nev¬ 
ertheless, enjoyed a great success; and it is worthy t)f note 
in observing the eAmlution of the process, that they Avere a 
means of emphasizing the importance of fine grinding, and 
helped to establish the permanence of the tube mill. It has 
alAAmys been a truism in cyaniding that the finer the prod¬ 


uct, the higher the extraction. This is the case AAuth feA\" ex¬ 
ceptions. To apply this principle required tvAU) things: an ec¬ 
onomical machine for fine grinding, and a filtering system 
AAdiich AAmuld be at once efficient and economical. You are 
all, no doubt, familiar Avith the tube mill as uoaa^ applied to 
cyanide work. It consists of a sheet steel cylinder AAutli cast 
ends, Amrying in size (the largest mills are five feet in diam¬ 
eter by tvventy-tAAU) feet long), and suiiported either uyion 
trunnions or upon steel tires reAmlving on rollers like a 
chlorination barrel. The interior of the mill maA" be liiuMl 

9 ■ 


either with cast iron, or a species of natural flint, knoAvn 
as ^^Silex.’’ The latter is the more commonly used, and is 
sold in tAvo sizes—blocks tAAm and one-half inches and four 
inches thick. The Silex linings are laid in neat cement and 
Avill last from four to eight months, depending upon the ore. 
When ready to operate, the mill is charged about half full 
Avith flint pebbles. The product to be reground is fed into the 
mill either through a spiral feed or a feed of the stufflng- 
box type, and the reground material is discharged at the o])- 
posite end, being finely comminuted by attrition against 
the flint pebbles and the lining during the sIoaa" reAmliition 
of the cylinder. The a Am rage speed of the tube mill is from 
tAAmnty-fiAm to thirty-fiAm reAmlutions per minute. The fine¬ 
ness to Avhich the sand may be reduced will depend upon 
seAmral factors, chief among which is the amount of Avater 
introduced Avith the sand. The best proportion has been 
found to be one part solids to one part Avater. 

As a machine for economically sliming, that is reducing 
ore to an extreme fineness, the tube mill has no equal. The 
cost of tube milling is A^ariable. In this country and Mexico 
it will range between 20 and 40 cents per ton. The practice 
at El Oro, Mexico, and at Telluride, Colorado, is representa¬ 
tive of the best yiractice on this continent, while the figures 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


189 


ou tube milling at the Combination mine, Goldfield, Nevada, 
probably represent the maximum of cost, owing to high 
price of power and labor. A small 4xl2-foot trunnion mill 
is installed at the latter property for sliming the forty-mesh 
product from a Bryan mill. The product of ten stamps, 
about thirty-five tons of ore per da}^, passes to the tube mill 
classifier, and of this product about seventy-five per cent, 
goes to the tube mill, or 24.(> tons per day. The following 
figures may be of interest: 

Cost of 2i-in. silex lining laid in mill, f323.50. 

Ifife of lining, 4 months. 

Cost of lining, 7.7 cents per ton of ore stamped. 

Cost of pebbles delivered Goldfield, |71.00 per ton. 

Consumption of pebbles, 2.03 lb. per ton of ore stamped. 

Cost of pebbles, 7.1 cents per ton of ore stamped. 

Horse power: 25 H.Ih at |11.25 per H.I^. per month. 

Cost of horse power, 26.7 cents per ton of ore stamped. 

Summary: Cost per ton of ore stamped— 

Pebbles.|0.071 

Lining.077 

Power.267 


Total.|0.415 per ton 

Tending the mill is one of the several duties falling 
upon one man; and the consumption of lubricants is almost 
negligible. I have, therefore, not included these two items 
in the cost. This cost of 41 cents j)er ton may be assumed 
to be the maximum for tube milling, owing to the very high 
cost of labor and freightage in the southern Nevada camps. 

I have already referred to filter pressing as an estab¬ 
lished practice in Australia. The press was never very 
y)opular in America and very few successful installations 
are recorded. The most noteworthy, perliaps, is that at the 
Gold Tvoad mine, near Kingman, Arizona, where two five- 
ton Dehne presses have been successfully operating for 
some time. 

About three years ago Mr. George Moore, after a series 
of failures in an attempt to filter press slime at the mill of 
the Consolidated Merciir Company, in Utah, devised a 
vacuum filter and installed a plant at the Mercur mill. 
This was the origin of the vacuum type of filter, recent 
modifications of which are installed at a number of mills 
ill this country. Experiments recently made in Australia 
so far demonstrated the superiority of this method over all 
others, that it seems safe to yiredict the early passing of the 
press as a mere filtering machiiie. 








190 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


The unit of the Moore lilter is a rectangular wood frame 
covered with canvas and provided witli a vacuum drain 
pijie extending to the loivest point of the interior. These 
frames are grouped together in clusters or ^^baskets/’ which 
are raised and lowered by means of a hydraulic crane. 
When lowered into a suitable compartment containing the 
slime pulp, the vacuum is applied to a common pipe con¬ 
nected with each frame, the solution is drawn tlirough the 
canvas, and a slime cake varying from five-eighths to 
seven-eighths inch in thickness is deposited on each side 
of the filter frame. The cluster of filter frames carryiug 
the charge of slime, weighing several tons, is then lifted 
from the pulp, shifted automatically to an adjoining com¬ 
partment containing the wash, where it is again lowered, the 
vacuum applied, and the displacing operation carried on. 
The load is again raised and shifted to a bin, where the 
cakes are discharged by introducing air or water into the 
interior of the frames. 

The objections to the Moore filter are the high first 
cost of the mechanism required to shift the slime load, and 
the high cost of maintenance. The unmechanical and cum¬ 
bersome features of this system led to the introduction by 
Cassel of a stationary filter, and the elimination of the awk¬ 
ward mechanism of the Moore scheme. It remained for 
Butters to simplify the Cassel principle and so modify it as 
to make it a pronounced success at his Virginia City plant. 
In the Butters filter, tlie leaves are set in a rectangular box 
or tank, the bottom of the box consisting of a series of 
pointed pockets to facilitate the discharge of the spent 
cakes. The frames are approximately 5x10 feet, and con¬ 
sist of a piece of cocoa matting with a sheet of canvas 
quilted on each side, the whole being stretched on a frame 
of half-inch pipe and securely sewed to this pipe frame, 
which, in turn, is supported on a timber lieader. The bot¬ 
tom arm of the frame is perforated with small holes, 
through which the solution enters the i:)ipe when the 
vacuum is applied. On one side the pipe frame is projected 
through the wooden header, and is connected with a com¬ 
mon pipe leading to the vacuum pump. The frames stand 
I^arallel in the filter box at about four and one-qUarter-inch 
centers. The slime pulp is drawn from the slime reservoir 
ami pumped into the bottom of the filter box until all the 
frames are immersed. The vacuum is then applied until a 
cake of suitable thickuess is deposited, and the excess of 


IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


191 


pulp is then returned to the slime reservoir. This opera¬ 
tion is repeated for the wash, and the cake linally dis¬ 
charged into the bottom of the box by introducing water 
under a low head into the interior of the leaves. The ac- 
cnmiilated cakes from each (diarge are removed by sluicing. 

This s^'Stem possesses the great advantage of simplicity 
and low cost of maintenance. A plant of any size can be 
operated by one man, who stands on a platform on a level 
with the top of the filter box, and manipulates the pumps 
with levers, and the valves with a siinjile drum and sheave 
mechanism. 

The 200-ton plant of this type at the Butters Virginia 
City plant is operated at a cost of about 10 cents per ton 
of slime. At the Combination mill at Goldfield, Nevada, 
forty tons of slime per day are being filtered at a cost of 
about 45 cents per ton, as follows: 

Three men at |4—112 per day—per ton. .f0.30 

12 horse-power, at |11.25 i^er horse-power per 


month, per ton. .11 

Lubricants and incidentals, per ton.04 


10.45 

This plant, however, has a capacity of fifty-six tons 
per day. If worked to its limit of capacity, this cost would 
be reduced to 31 cents per ton. The cost of filter pressing 
at the same plant in the early days of operation was ap¬ 
proximately $1 per ton. 

The fifteen horse-power consumed are used for the fol¬ 
lowing purposes: 

Driving a 4-in. Butters centrifugal pump. 

Operating a 12x10 Goulds vacuum pump. 

Operating a 2-in. centrifugal pump for raising the fil¬ 
tered solution to a clarifying filter-press. 

Operating a, 2-in. centrifugal pump for returning the 
slime overflow from the leaching tanks to the slime settlers. 

Operating stirring mechanism in two slime reservoir 
tanks, *14 ft. in diameter. 

The power may be distributed as follows: 

For actual operation of filter, capa¬ 


city 56 tons per day.9 FI.P. 

For agitating slime pump.3 H.P. 


For uses not connected with filter. .3 H.P. 

The cycle of operations in the Butters filter consumes 
about three hours and twenty minutes. This will vary, of 
course, with the nature of the slime to be filtered. 








192 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Tliis type of filter has been Installed, or is in process 
of installation, at the following plants: 

Works of Chas. Butters Co., Virginia City, Nevada. 

Coinbination mine, (toldfield, Nevada. 

At the two large Butters plants in Central America. 

Guadalnpe mine, Inde, Durango, Mexico. 

Touopali Mining Company, d'oiiopah, Nevada. 

Montana-Tonopah Mining Company, Tonopah, Nevada, 
and several other xilants of which I have no record. 

Considering the rax)id adojition of the vacnnni filter, the 
X)rediction may safely be made that it will, before long, su- 
Xiersede the old method of filter xiressing and be accexited as 
the final solution of the slime x^roblem. There are certain 
conditions, however, where the product tO' be handled is 
too low grade to admit even of vacuum filtering, and which 
require special study and a special process. Idie need of 
a special process to suit a unique condition was never bet¬ 
ter exemx^lified than in the case of the Homestake ore. 

I will not take up here a consideration of the difficult 
problems encountered and successfully solved by Mr. Mer¬ 
rill at the Homestake in the cyaniding of mill tailings, av¬ 
eraging less than |1.50 x^er ton in value. The next and most 
serious problem to engage his attention was the treatment 
of the slime, of which 1,000 tons per day had been run to 
waste from the Homestake mills, of an average value of 
about 80 cents x^er ton. Mr. Merrill has devised a filter 
Xwess, the unique feature of which is that it can be auto¬ 
matically discharged by sluicing without being ox^ened, 
thus doing away with the chief objection to the old type of 
press, namely, the cost of operating. This x^ipss is of the 
common flush xdate and distance-frame x>Rttern, but con¬ 
sists of much larger units. The dimensions of the x)ress are 
as follows: 

Number of frames, 92. 

Size of frame, 4 ft. by 6 ft. 

Length of x)ress, 45 ft. 

Capacity of press, 26 tons. 

Weight of x^ress, 65 tons. 

Thickness of cake, 4 inches. 

The slime pulp is admitted to this press, through a con¬ 
tinuous channel at the center of the top of the frames. When 
the cake is formed, cyanide solution is forced into the cake 
through channels at the ux^per corners. 

At the bottom of the frames there extends a continu¬ 
ous channel, within which lies a sluicing i)ipe, provided 




IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS- 


193 


with nozzles which project into each compartment. This 
pipe can be revolved tbrough an arc of any magnitude, so 
as to play a stream into any part of the cake, washing it 
down into the annular s^iace between the center channel and 
the sluicing pipe. Wlien the press is being filled and 
leached the discharge ends of this pipe are sealed. 

The method of operating is es follows: 

The slime, after partial dewatering, consists of about 
three parts of water to one of solids. In this form it is 
charged b^^ gravit}^ to the presses at about thirty pounds 
pressure. The leaching with cyanide solution is done in 
the press, the effluent solutions being conducted to four pre¬ 
cipitating tanks, where the values are recovered b}’^ zinc 
dust. There is no power cost for agitating or elevating, 
except for elevating the solution to the press. There will 
be only six-tenths ton of solution handled per ton of slime, 
of which only three-tenths ton will be precipitated. All fil¬ 
tering will be done by gravity at a cost of 2 cents per ton. 

This plant is being erected on the basis of tests made 
in a ten-ton press of the type desctibed. In all 1,291 tons 
were treated, with the following results: 

Per Ton. 

Average assay value of slime before treatment |0.91 
Average assay value of slime after treatment .10 
Extraction by assay per ion, 90 per cent. or. . .81 

Kecovered in precipitate per ton, 91 per cent. 


' The following facts relating to this important installa¬ 
tion are of interest: 

Estimated cost of slime treatment. 

.25 cents per ton 

Estimated profit ])er year.|300,000 

Cost of plant. 400,000 

Cost of pipe lines. 50,000 

Area covered by ])lant.270 ft. by 65 ft. 

Area covered per ton of capacity.2 sq. yds. 

Cost of installation, per ton of ca¬ 
pacity .|300 

Filter press cost per ton of capacit}". . 60 

Horse poiver required, 1-10 H.P. per ton of . 
slime treated. 

Water required for sluicing, 4 tons of wa¬ 
ter to 1 ton slime. 

In the elaboration of the above ])rocess and plant, Mr. 
Merrill shares witli tlie projectors of the vacuum filter the 









194 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


credit for the most notoAvortliv advance made in recent 
3 ^ears in t]ie metallnrgv of tJie cyanide process. 11 is method 
is admirably adapte(l to Homestake conditions, and its 
striking economical features must appeal at once to every 
engineer and manager who concerns himself with sncli vital 
things as costs and profits. 

AVhether an antomatically discharged press can com¬ 
pete under average conditions Avith the Amcnnni filter re¬ 
mains to be seen. Much, of course, Avill depend upon local 
conditions, such as the natural site, the utilization of grav¬ 
ity for various operations, water facilities and water sup¬ 
ply, and the permeability of the material under treatment, 
as Avell as the rapidity Avith Avhich it yelds up its mineral. 

Space Avill not permit me to touch upon zinc dust pre¬ 
cipitation further than to say that there is eA^ery indication 
that it Avill eventually take the place of zinc shaAdngs in all 
plants of large capacity. Electric deposition offers a large 
and promising field for iuA^estigation, but has not as yet 
been Avorked out to a perfectly satisfactory conclusion. 

Recent adAmnces iii cyaniding mainly liaA^e to do with 
the finer reduction of the product to be treated. The treat¬ 
ment of sand by leaching Avill |)robably continue to be the 
best metliod in a feAV instances, but no obseiwer Avill denv 
that the trend of modern practice is toAvard fine grinding, 
and doing aAvay Avith leaching in tanks, a goal Avhich has 
been made possible by the introduction of the tube mill, 
and the verv efilcient filtering methods iioav in Amgne. ' 


Mine Drainage Districts 


BY D. W. BRUNTON. 

Oiir President states that I have been asked to intro¬ 
duce this subject because of inv connection with different 
drainage enterprises, bnt T fail to see why boring a inonn- 
tain to drain off' an excessive water supply should give me 
' the privilege of boring this audience and draining their 
stock of ])atience and good humor. 

As a presidential candidate once said about the tariff, 
mine drainage is entirely a local issue. In Nevada and 
Arizona an nndergronnd flow of water is welcomed, not 
only as a means of laying the irritating dust in the levels 
and stopes, bnt for the value the water has when brought to 
the surface, while in other sections of this country the cost 
of mining is often greatly increased and sometimes rendered 
prohibitive by the volume of water encountered. 

Where the conntrv rock is exceedinglv dense and the 
mines consist of a iinmber of disconnected individual fis¬ 
sures, the drainage i)roblem for each mine must be worked 
out separately, bnt in many districts, notably those wdiere 
the country rock, whether igneous or sedimentary, is per¬ 
meable; where open fissure veins intersect each other, form¬ 
ing a stockwork, or wdiere the mines as at Leadville and 
Asyien are principally confined to one particular geological 
])lane in which the fissures and wmter courses inter-commn-, 
nicate, no one mine can be drained wdthout affecting the 
waiter level in its immediate vicinity; nor is this result con¬ 
fined to mines immediately contigxions, bnt the drainage 
level on a varying hydraulic plane extends to great dis¬ 
tances from the central drainage point. 

Where individual drainage must be maintained for 
each mine, the question of joint drainage is not nsnally im- 
lieratively necessary, although often desirable, as, for in¬ 
stance, at Butte, Avhere all the mines belonging to the Ana¬ 
conda company are drained by a joint pumping plant, rais¬ 
ing the water a distance of 1,900 feet to the level of the 
drainage tunnel, from wdience it fiow^s out to the surface by 
gravity. From this pumping station over two miles of 
levels have been driven, tapping the many different mines 
and separate veins owned by the Anaconda company, thus 
enabling it to handle the wmter at a fraction of the cost pre¬ 
vailing before the joint pumping plant was installed and 
connections made wdth all the mines in the group. 



19G 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Where the country rock is porous or the veins intersect 
(‘Mch other at numerous points, a central drainage system, 
whether operated by gravity or power, will usually uiiAvater 
all the mines in the vicinity without tlie expense of running 
laterals for drainage, although in most instances the desire 
to explore the veins at the greatest possible depth will cause 
levels to be run from the lowest point drained, for the dual 
purpose of transportation and ventilation. 

The great economy effected by the establishment of a 
common drainage svstem for an entire district wherever the 
conditions are favorable is so apparent that small individ¬ 
ual pumping plants would neA^er be considered were all the 
mines in the district controlled or managed by a single 
owner. Luckily, perhaps, for the business interests and 
welfare of the countr}^ at large, the OAvnership of claims in 
the average mining camp is exceedingly numerous and scat¬ 
tered, but unfortunately for the economical drainage and 
convenience of operating, it is often extremel}^ difficult to 
liarmonize these diverse interests so that they will Avork 
together for the common good. 

In almost eA^ery wet mining camp to-day there Avill be 
found a feAV enterprising, energetic OAAuiers or companies 
pushing development both horizontally and A^ertically, as 
fast as their means and drainage facilities permit. Around 
these mines may be found a fringe of poorer or less enter¬ 
prising operators content to lag behind and AVork the ground 
o])ened by the receding Avater line lowered at the expense 
of another. 

Sometimes these parties are Avilling, but unable, to 
contribute anything toAvard the expense of drainage, Avhile 
many others are not only averse to assist, but are eager to 
profit by the expenditures of others. 

There is nothing unusual about this, as human nature 
is much the same Avhether the trait of selfishness is mani¬ 
fested underground or on the surface. 

In every city we see men AAdio are content to let their 
])roperty lie idle and increase in value through the enter¬ 
prise of their neighbors. 

In countries Avhere swampy lands are common many 
oAvners are also Avilling to profit by the drainage of con¬ 
tiguous property. 

To correct these frailties nnd to equalize in some meas¬ 
ure the cost, as Avell as the benefits of desirable or necessary 
improvements, improvement districts in cities, and drain¬ 
age districts in the country haA^e been created, by laAVS 
Avliich, Avhile they properly conserA^e and safeguard the 


MINE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS. 


197 


rights of the individual, justly apportion the costs among 
different owners, of work carried on for the benefit of all. 

In mining operations the advantages of a common 
drainage system wherever possible would seem so great 
that it might be thonglit that no legal enactments compel¬ 
ling joint action Avonld be necessary. This, however, is not 
the case, as in most instances there Avill be found in a dis¬ 
trict owners AAdlling and anxious to go into am" combina- 
tion Avhich Avoiild enure to their common benefit; other oaaoi- 
ers perfectly Avilling, but financially unable to do this with¬ 
out incurring a debt Avhich they are iinAvilling to assume, 
and, unfortunately, still another class absolutely niiAvilling 
to take anj^ action whatever, hoping in the end to benefit by 
the enterprise, expenditure and labor of their neighbors. 
Even in a district where all the owners fully appreciate the 
necessity for joint action and are Avilling to participate in 
it, a difficulty still arises which has prevented the inaugura¬ 
tion of many a promising drainage scheme, A"iz., the diffi¬ 
culty of making such an apportionment of the expenses as 
Avill satisfy each individual. Naturally enough, many oAvn- 
ers feel that through some vagary of nature or chanc'^ of 
location, their neighbor mav receive earlier or greater bene- 
fits from the projected improvements than themselves, and 
as a consequence joint action is often delayed beyond the 
most seasonable period in the life of the district or perhaps 
post])oned altogether. 

In Cripple Greek to-day there is not a single OAvner of 
any importance or intelligence who doubts the desirability 
or even the absolute necessity of adopting a common drain¬ 
age scheme for the entire district, and yet action has been 
delayed from month to month because no basis for appor¬ 
tioning the expense has yet been devised, Avhich has proven 
satisfactory to all. 

In this district where the volume of Avater is so great 
that it requires the remoAml of about 60,000,000 gallons to 
loAver the Avater level one A"ertical foot the cost of raising 
the water to the surface even by a joint pumping plant 
Avould be practically prohibitive and a less expeditious, but 
more economical, plan for unAvatering the mines must be 
adopted. 

A drainage tunnel 18,200 feet in length Avhich could be 
driven in two and one-half years at a cost of half a million 
dollars would partially uiiAvater a productive area of about 
>5,000 acres comprising the richest ground in the district to 
a depth of 1,100 feet beloAV the present Avater level and a 
12,000-foot extension of this bore would completely drain 


198 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


tlie entire distriet at an additional cost of |3()0,0()0, making 
tlie total expenditure only |800,0()0. 

The enactment of a drainage law would render this 
work immediately possible and the cost of the undertaking 
would be a mere bagatelle compared with the benefits that 
would accrue to the mine owners, to the district, and to the 
state, from the addition of twenty-fiye years to the life of 
the greatest gold mining district on the continent. 

Oipple Creek is far from being the only district in this 
position; in fact, there is scarcely a wet camp in this coun¬ 
try where the majority of the owners would not welcome 
the passage of a uniform law legalizing the creation of 
drainage districts on similar lines to the improvement dis¬ 
tricts in the cities and the drainage districts in the South. 

Your committee has given the drafting of such a law a 
great deal of study during the past four months and the 
result of onr work Avill be read to you by the secretary, who 
with onr attorney, Mr. 11. S. Morrison, has spent a vast 
amount of time and thought (>n this question, so much so, 
that the remainder of the committee had but little to do ex- 
(‘ept to criticize and suggest, something very different from 
originating a bill so complicated and important. 


The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelting 

Trust and the Ore Producer 


BY SENATOR E. M. DE LA VERGNE. 


It is with iniich diffidence that I undertake to present 
to you views upon a subject of so much interest, of so inucli 
importance, so vast and complicated, and one affecting the 
happiness and prosperity of so great a number of persons 
who are interested in the great work of discovering, disclos¬ 
ing, developing and husbanding the various and valuable 
deposits our Creator has so carefully yet so wisely con¬ 
cealed. I am well aAvare that there are many under the 
sound of my voice who are much more capable of handling 
this subject, but I hope in a, plain, simple manner to suffi¬ 
ciently bring before you opinions, and call to your attention 
a number of wrongs, with suggestions as to righting them, 
which may have the effect of stimulating a discussion on all 


of these matters relating to the partnership existing be- 
tAveen tlie producer and the consumer. I say partnership; 
Avhile this may not be the proper Avord to express our rela¬ 
tions, yet our forced relations are such that it is difficult to 
separate the business of mining, milling, refining and mar¬ 
keting minerals that I think I may be pardoned for desig¬ 
nating it as such. And Avhere we disagree and Avliere tlie 


Auirious grievances are the most prominent, is in the deter¬ 
mination of the Auilues and the distribution of the profits. I 
do not think the most sanguine among the ore producers 
hope for perfect satisfaction in determining results of Aml- 
ues, especially upon the more precious metals. We should 
be satisfied if Ave received the average value of our various 
shipmeiits, and I think the most of the producers Avould or 
should be. 

But among the small shippers, both from lessees and 
small lAi'ofincers, and especiall^^ Avhere frecpient small ship¬ 
ments from pockets of rich ore are made and Avhere tliere is 
no succeeding shipment to folloAA^, there is nothing to aver¬ 
age, therefore the producer is usually dissatisfied. I knoAV 
the producer often has an exaggerated idea of the value of 
his production, caused from Auirious conditions and cir(‘um- 
stauces surrounding him; among the most cominoii error 



200 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


that luan}^ shippers have is a failure to properly sample; 
ami a more eommon ami more serious fault, a failure to se¬ 
lect coiiscieiitious and competent assayers. 

While the iiroducer has his troubles and because of 
the risk, disappointments, hardships and various other con¬ 
ditions too numerous to mention, he has the sjunpathy of 
the public; but we must not forget that the lot of the buyer 
and sampler is not altogether a happy one. He must neces¬ 
sarily protect himself against the dishonest and unscrupu¬ 
lous who are alwa^^s ready to take advantage of any oppor¬ 
tunity to realize an excessive value. He must therefore ap¬ 
pear to confiding, honest j)ersons as unnecessarily suspi¬ 
cious. This is not a pleasant position to be placed in. 

' I have been mining and disposing of ores for various 
companies and myself for the past twenty-five years and I 
must confess that until within the past eighteen months my 
relations with mills, smelters and samplers have been such 
as to inspire confidence, but when these conditions change, 
one will naturally look around to see what are the circum¬ 
stances that bring them about. I have alwavs watched with 
great interest the changes that were gradually taking place 
in the manner of determining ore values with improved ma¬ 
chinery appliances for automatic sampling and the contin¬ 
ual change from old to new processes in smelting, all of 
which result in facilitating the handling of large amounts 
of ore at a much reduced expense. I am of the opinion that 
the producer has received his proportion of the saving, but 
I have also noted with no little concern the fact tliat com¬ 
petition Avas gradually fading away. That the regard of 
the good AAdll of the producer was going Avith it. I liaA^e 
seen the great and expensiA-e smelters that Avere erected by 
strong corporations, dismantled, and only those mighty 
stacks left as a monument to the late lamented, and de¬ 
parted competition. I undersland that in some of the min¬ 
ing camps of the soutliAvestern part of this state, competi¬ 
tion has still a struggling existence and that ore can and is 
being shipped to the American Rmelting and Refining Gom- 
pany’s plants near Salt Lake and sold largely to the intei^est 
of the producer. I believe this is largely due to the differ¬ 
ence in the prices paid for lead and copper, and to the fact 
that in Utah strong competition compels the buyer to accept 
smaller profits. We congratulate our friends from Utah 
upon the fact that the trust has not yet put an end to legit¬ 
imate competition in their state. I have ])reviously stated 
that the good aauII of the producer is not now^ considered as 
it Avas in the past, and as eAudence of that I Avill quote from 






SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS. 


201 


an order issued by tlie American Smelting and Refining 
Company May 12, 1000. This doeument is entitied “Proced¬ 
ure to Re Used in Sampiino- and Settiius' of Ores Siiipped 
to Tiie American Smelting' and Refining (’oinpany.” 

“FIRST: All consignments shall be settled on the basis of the 
weight, moisture and samples obtained by the Company. 

“SECOND: A sample composing 1/25 of the entire lot will be cut 
out by the Company and all its samples shall be made from this; the 
1/25 to be held until settlement assays shall be determined.” 

Tlie fourth clause says: 

“Ores sampled in transit, it will be optional with the shipper to have 
the sampling works send to its representative at the smelter, the cer¬ 
tificate of assay giving the results of the sampling at the sampler, with 
Instructions to its sampling representative to deliver to the Smelting 
Company such assay certificate as the sample of the lot delivered to him 
at the sampler’s works. If, however, such certificate be not delivered at 
or about the time the sampling of the lot is delivered to the shipper’s 
representative, no resampling will be made. Should the average of re¬ 
sults obtained by the Smelting Company from its sample be greater than 
ten per cent, of the final assay, as shown on such certificate received, a 
resample shall be called for in all cases; but if the assay is within ten 
per cent, of the certificate, assay settlement shall be made on the split of 
the assays of the Smelting Company and the shipper on the Smelting 
Company’s sample or on'the umpire results as usual. 

“If on a resample the assay result obtained by the Smelting Company 
shall be within ten per cent, of the original assay obtained by it or the 
original assay shown on the sampling works or umpire certificate, then 
shall settlement be made on this resample in like manner as above noted 
for the original sample. Otherwise a second resample shall be made. In 
case a second resample, if required as above, should check any of the 
sample results within ten per cent., then shall such sample be considered 
final and settlement be made in like manner as above noted for the origi¬ 
nal sample. 

Ores Not Sampled in Transit. 

“If a resample is called for, such resample will be made, but if the 
assay results obtained by the Smelting Company on this resample are 
greater than ten per cent, of its assay on the original sample, another 
resample shall be called for; but if the assay is within ten per cent, of 
its assay on the original sample, settlement shall be made on the split of 
the assays of the Smelting Company and the shipper on such sample or 
on the umpire results. 

“In case a second resample, if required as above, should check either 
of the first sample results, or the second sample results within ten per 
cent., then shall such sample be considered final and settlement be made.” 

Do you suppose sucli an arbitrary and unjust order 
would have been issued if the smelter had a due regard for 
the shipper's opinion? A short time after this order went 
into eft'ecd the samplers made a rule that where they pur¬ 
chased the ore, they would charge fl.OO per ton for sampling 
Avhere before they had charged GO to 65 cents per ton. 

Whether these conditions exist or not outside of the 
Cripple Creek mining district I do not know, but I do know 
that in other localities there are complaints of discrimina¬ 
tions against the shipper of various kinds. 


202 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


I believe we stand to-day confronted by a combination 
or trust whose methods are deserving of serious considera¬ 
tion by this Congress. Tlie great industry is threatened 
with and receiving blows from which the recovery may be 
extremely slow, if at all. There is a feeling that something 
must be done, but just what and how is the (luestioii gener¬ 
ally for 3 a)ur consideration. This (jnestion must not be con¬ 
sidered altogether from a local or seltish standpoint. There 
are dilfereut views taken in regard to wliat course should 
be pursued in order to have a more amicable adjustment of 
rates and more equitable determination of values. I be¬ 
lieve some plan should be devised by which all ores should 
be automatically sami)led. 1 am sure that in the manner 
of cutting out oue-fiftli of the Avhole by the shovel, an op¬ 
portunity is furnished to discriminate against the shipper. 
Especially is it so under the present system where the em- 
])loyed share in the profits. I have no objections to the la¬ 
borer getting the amount that he now receives under this ar- 
rangemeut, but I do object to the men who are paid to de¬ 
termine the values of our ore being interested in making it 
lower than it really is. This question of determining ore 
values is a very peculiar one. There is nothing like it in 
other channels of commerce. In the agricultural districts, 
I am informed, grain and cotton are graded under state reg¬ 
ulations, but here is an industry only second to the great 
agricultural interests, in wliich the values of the commodity 
are entirely determined by the buyer. But he says: ^‘1 jiay 
for this ore and I am going to know from mv own determin¬ 


ations what it is worth.’’ And we concede that he is right; 
but the producer can and does say: ^^But I paid for this ore 
first. I paid for it in high wages, freight and various other 
expenses and I am entitled to some right in the manner of 
determining its values. I am entitled to have that ore sam¬ 
pled by a machine that can not be affected by any sort of 
inducement offered, hoAvever cunninglv made, to cut out mv 
sample unfairly.” In reply to this statement, I ax^preliend 
some will say tliat I take a wrong view of this matter; that 
this bonus to tlie employes was made in order to induce the 
men to continue longer in their employer’s service. If this 
is true, then I say, make the length of time that they stay 
in the employer’s service and the amount paid them the 
condition, and not a per cent, of the profits. 

I have been told that it makes no difference with the 
men, so far as the values are concerned; but I disagree Avith 
them, and as evidence that it does, I Avill quote from the 
closing sentence of the Sixth Annual Beport of The Ameri- 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS. 


203 


can Smelting and Refining Company for the fiscal jescr end- 
ing April 30, 1905, which is as follows: 

“The increase in the net profits of the company has resulted in in¬ 
creasing, over the previous year, the sum to be distributed in accordance 
with the terms of Profit-Sharing Circular Letter of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee, and there has been paid to the employes of the company on this 
account the sum of $216,815.76. In making this distribution to the em¬ 
ployes of the Company, the Board has been pleased to state its belief 
that the encouragement given to the employes through the previous dis¬ 
tribution of earnings has had no small influence in bringing about the very 
satisfactbry condition of prosperity enjoyed by the company during the 
past year.” 

We are not covetous, but rejoice in the great prosperity 
of The American Smelting and Refining Company, as well 
as in their subsidiary comiianies, and we will admit that 
under the present consolidated system, operating expenses 
have been decreased. The profits from this and other va¬ 
rious sources have been large and we admit that the com¬ 
panies are entitled to the same, but give us a ^^square deal,’’ 
which is the value of our production, less your charges as 
based upon the schedules furnished us. 

The summary of the various remedies for righting the 
wrongs complained of is as follows: 

First—State legislation. 

Second—National legislation. 

Third—Encouraging competition. 

Fourth—By an amicable agreement. 

Fifth—Government operations. 

As to the first, I believe the state has the right to reg¬ 
ulate all corporations doing business witliin its borders, by 
wise and proper legislation which the public good demands, 
and the only question that T am in any doubt about is 
whether or not the child has grown larger than the parent; 
so much larger than the ifarent as to make the application 
of the law impossible.. 

I think the states should jointly enact just and uni¬ 
form laws regulating the smelting business all over these 
United States. 

If those remedies should fail, T would apply to the na¬ 
tion. Surely if the government can lawfull}^ say to the great 
railroad combinations: ^^Yoii shall not charge excessive 
rates; you shall not OAvn, operate or liold any interest in any 
coal mining company,” it could, under laAvs, regulate the 
samj)ling trust. 

One of the difficulties Avith the third proposition (com¬ 
petition) Avould be to combine a sufficient amount of capital 
to meet successfully the various methods used to crush out 







204 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


your competitor. We have an illustration of this in the 
operations of the Standard Oil. 

As to the fourth suggestion, I would say that I well- 
know of the almost universal selfishness and greed of the 
individual in business and to what extremes he will resort. 
The same is true of the ordinary corporation. Then what 
can you expect from a trust formed from and of both of 
these? 

But, after having had several interviews with the man¬ 
ager of the American Smelting and Kefining Company (in 
company with other gentlemen now present) I have been en¬ 
couraged to hope for an amicable adjustment of any griev¬ 
ances Ave might liaA^e. In fact Mr. Guiterman has said they 
would concede anAdhing Ave Avould ask Avithin reason. I am 
satisfied this Avas made in good faith, and am acting under 
that A^erbal understanding noAV. But that is hardly broad 
enough. I Avant my associates to liaA^'e the benefit of their 
fair proposition, and I Avant you, felloAV members and dele¬ 
gates to this Congress, to be individually good Samaritans 
to all of our associates who chance to be met upon the road 
from Jerusalem to Jericho. 

I belicAm that there are among the directors and officers 
of the American Smelting and Kefining Company honest, 
philanthropic, generous, broad-minded and patriotic citi¬ 
zens, and I am not for one moment contending that they as 
individuals are to be held responsible, as individuals, for 
the acts of a corporation, under the direction of a board ond 
general manager. I liaA^e knoAvn it to often occur that a 
board of directors composed of high-minded, honest citi¬ 
zens, to authorize and sanction the commission of acts bA- 
the incorporation so mean and contemptible as to bring the 
blush of shame to the cheeks of the individual director 
when the same were called to his attention. He Avill say: 

did not do it; it Avas the board of directors.’’ Noav there 
are exceptions to this rule, and Avhen I say that I believe the 
American Smelting and Refining Company is composed of 
members, the most of Avhom, are high-minded, jAatriotic and 
just men who Avill listen to, consider and satisfactorily ad¬ 
just many of the shippers’ grieAmnces. I belieA^e there are 
among these powers that direct the company referred to 
Avise, far-sighted individuals aa ho can look oAmr, aboAm and 
beyond the throng of selfish stockholders, and without an 
astrologer, or a David Avith a chain of gold about his neck, 
can read and interpret the ^ffiand Avriting upon the wall.” 

I belieA^e a carefully considered, and fair statement made to 
the American Smelting and Kefining Company of just what 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS. 


205 


the shipper has to complain of, will receive careful and 
quick consideration at its hands, and get a much speedier 
relief than any of the previous suggestions made. 

However, if all shall fail, then I believe the mining 
industry can exert a sufficient influence upon this govern¬ 
ment as to induce it to do the smelting for the whole 
people of the United States. I am opposed to municipal 
ownership. I am opposed to the state or the government 
operating the railroads, or any public enterprises. I am op¬ 
posed to the department stores on the ground that they 
have a tendency to stifle and discourage private enterjirise, 
and the investment of capital in small and large amounts. 
They all have a tendency to centralize the business that be¬ 
longs to thousands of good citizens in the hands of a few. 
But after that business that properly belongs to the public 
has been gathered into the hands of one or two gigantic 
trusts and all competition destroyed, I believe that justice 
to the individual, the public and the industry demand that 
the government shall rescue it from the one or two, or more 
concerns, and operate the business for the interests of the 
people vfho are engaged in the work of taking what nature 
has furnished in the crude form, and converting it into 
wealth that flows through the thousands of channels of com¬ 
merce into the millions of homes of the rich and the poor 
alike. I Avould advocate this measure as a last resort. We 
iiave been, and are going to continue to be patient and long 
suffering, but nevertheless determined to demand and re¬ 
ceive justice at the hands of the great and the small. 

I sincerely believe that a good, healthy competition 
in all things is needed. I do not mean the destructive, ruin¬ 
ous kind such as has been in use and is being used by trusts 
and strong competitors to destroy and kill their weak oppo¬ 
nents,'and when they are dead and buried begin imme¬ 
diately to adjust their prices so as to make the public pay 
the funeral expenses. 

This matter is in your hands, fellow members and dele¬ 
gates, and should it be discussed, I know you will do it in a 
spirit of kindness and fairness to all concerned. 

I tliank you for tlie consideration you have given me 
in my feeble efforts to present to you my views upon' this 
subject. 


The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelter 
Trust and the Ore Producer: A Response to the 
Address of Senator E. M. De La Vergne 


BY FRANKLIN GUITERMAN, GENERAL MANAGER THE AMERICAN 

SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY. 

Mr. President, Members of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress, Ladies and Gentlemen: A few days ago 1 was ad¬ 
vised that my friend Senator h)e La Vergne would favor this 
Congress with an exposition of the grievances of the mining 
industry against the so-called smelter trust, the grievances 
being imrfi^^ularly and peculiarly related to the ore pro¬ 
ducers of the Cripple (Aeek district. I had hoped and ex¬ 
pected that I should be favored Avitli a copy of the paper of 
my friend, the senator, before its delivery, so that I might 
be fully prepared to answer such criticisms as he might 
have to offer covering the grievances of the ore producers of 
his special district. I therefore feel myself somewhat at a 
disadvantage, Mr. President, in being called uiion to make 
a general reply and lead in debate in answer to the paper 
which you have just heard read. Senator De La Vergne, pre- 
snmabA out of kindness and friendliness to me, said that he 
recognized that this inexecrable impostor, the smelting 
trust, with its directors at the head, often compelled its em¬ 
ployes to do things that they were ashamed of and which 
they would not voluntarily do if not under the influence 
and in the power of this grinding monopoly. I want to say 
here that whatever has been done in the state of Colorado 
and in Utah I am personally responsible for, and that there 
is no executive oflicer of the American Smelting and ‘Eefln- 
ing Company, no matter what his position is, tliat has ever 
compelled me in any way to any acd the iierformance of 
which I am ashamed. The senator has stated that in Colo¬ 
rado there is i)ractically no competition. I wish to gainsay 
that statement of his and to declare than in everv fleld in 
Colorado to-dav, no matter whether it be Lake countv or the 
San Juan country, whether it be Teller district or Mineral 
county, we have competition on all sides, and we have at all 
times been ready in every way to nient such competition in 
a spirit of fairness and equity to the ])roducer. 

AVith your x^t^iiidssion I will give you a few facts iier- 
taining to the development of the mining industry in Colo¬ 
rado, so that yon may judge for yourselves to what extent 






SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: RESPONSE 


207 


this grinding niono])oly has injured the mining industry, 
which is one of the bases of our prosperity. 

With particular reference to the Crix^ple Creek district, I 
desire to say to yon that since the formation of the so-called 
trust, when the American Hmelting and lie fining Company 
absorbed the last remaining great smelter in Colorado, 
namely, the Philadelphia, owned by Guggenheim’s sons, 
that since that time, instead of there being an advance in 
treatmeut charges there has been a steady reduction of tlie 
same, with the result that tliere Ipm been more paid to the 
minei‘ than Avas ])ossible under the conditions Avhere indi- 
Addnal smelters Avere operating. Under the competitive con¬ 
ditions Avhich have been obtained, and Avhich have been 
■ brought about by the distress under Avliich the mining in¬ 
dustry of Colorado Avas laboring, due to the depreciation of 
the price of metals, Ave have been obliged to put tAvo enor¬ 
mous })lants out of commission because they could not suc- 
cessfullA^ meet the demands of the mining industrv. I refer 
more particularly to that smelter Avliose stack you see rear¬ 
ing its head and Avliich is the fourth highest stack in the 
United States, a plant Avhicli could not be duplicated to-day, 
if you wished to duplicate it, at an expense of one million 
dollars. I refer to another smelter at Pueblo, oAviied by the 
Guggenheims before they entered the combination, Avhich 
could not be duplicated to-day at an expense of a million 
and a half dollars; and yet both of these smelters have been 
uut out of commission because they could not meet the trs^- 
ing conditions Avhich confronted us in our endeavors to 
lower the treatment charges so that ore production might 
continue. 

In Cripple Creek since 1902—and the Guggenheim 
smelters AA^ere taken in in 1901—onr aA^erage margin on the 
purchase of those ores Avas |8.69 per ton, the gross value of 
the ore Avlncli Ave received being |44.41 per ton. In 1905 
onr average margin had been gradually reduced so that Ave 
Avere only receiving |7.T2 per ton Avhile the Amine of the ore 
Avliich Ave received from those mines had risen to the gener¬ 
ous sum of I50.4T. In other Avords, the Cripple Creek pro¬ 
ducer, on ore being sent to us, Avas receiving from us fl.OO 
per ton more three years later, after this combination had 
gone into effect. That does not look as if Ave Avere trying to 
exterminate that industry. We found, hoAvever—and this 
was an undeniable fact—that in the purchase of Cripple 
Creek ores, grave abuses Avere being practiced, much to the 
detriment of ourselves, so that Ave could not continue the 
policy of making further reduction in treatment charges 



208 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


and tlius stimulate an alread}^ generous production. We 
found on the part of the miner that he could utilize the sam¬ 
pler for the purpose of sampling his ores and utilize the 
smelter for the purpose of smelting his ores and utilize his 
own appliances for the purpose of sampling his ores, and 
that he was insistent upon getting the very highest returns 
out of those ores which could possibly be procured by any 
means. And we also found that in pursuance of those 
methods the smelters were suffering great damage in loss 
of metals for which they had paid, but which did not really 
exist; hence this circular was issued Avliich the senator has 
mentioned in his paper read before you, namely, thai Ave 
Avonld adopt such means to fairly ascertain the Amine of the 
ores, and having adopted them, Ave Avould get together and 
effect such a settlement as might be to the mutual interest 
of all parties concerned. There is nothing in that circular 
Avhicli could possibly be taken exception to by any fair- 
minded individual. The miner to-day has the prlAulege of 
sampling his ore as he had it before. He has the priAulege 
of haAung it sampled and purchased by independent 
sampling people as he had before. He has tlie priAulege of 
sending it to our smelting Avorks and haAdng our oAvn 
sampling methods supervised by his OAAm representatives 
as he had it before; he has the privilege of making his oAvn 
assays on those samples and comparing results Avith ours 
and submitting the assays to the final arbitration of an 
umpire as he had it before. There is nothing I knoAv of that 
has been taken from him, but Avhat Ave haAm done has been 
in the interest of decency and self-protection for ourselves, 
to Avhich Ave hold Ave are entitled. 

It is true that I said to Senator De La Yergne, and I say 
it to eAmry shipper, and I want it to be understood, that the 
door of the office of the general manager of this company 
ahvaAm swings iiiAvard to auvone Avho has anv ore to sell, 
Avhether it be in large or small ])arcels, and that AAm Avill 
listen to any grievances that may be presented by him, and 
that those grievances Avill be adjusted in a ])roper manner 
and in the interest of all parties, but not in the interest of 
the seller of the ore alone. 

We liaAmnT thought it proper, ]Mr. President, to enter 
tlie iieAVspapers in defense of our policy. We have main¬ 
tained a silence Avhich Ave thought Avas proper and in con¬ 
sort Avith onr oavu dignity, and had it not been for the meet¬ 
ing of this Congress Ave should not have been heard at all 
in reply to the misstatements Avhich have been made con¬ 
cerning the conduct of our business, But we have held that 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: RESPONSE 


209 


the dignity of this body and the character of its rejiresenta- 
tives demanded that some statement should be made from 
ns in explanation of oiir present position. 

It may be interesting to you, inasmuch as the senat()r 
has mentioned and compared ns to railways, to know that 
our oAvn position is entirely dissimilar. Railways are com¬ 
mon carriers for the public convenience. It matters not 
whether they haul a trainload of coal or a trainload of dyn¬ 
amite; no one cares whether they haul a trainload of stone 
or a trainload of perishable goods. It makes no difference 
to the public whether the commodity Avhich is being trans¬ 
ported is one of silk or one of glass. The railways are there 
to serve the public and to serve it in a way which will serve 
all interests. The smelting operations, however, are con¬ 
ducted on a different basis. We are not common receivers. 
We must exercise the doctrine of selection in the class of 
material which we can utilize. If to-dav we disregarded 
that important function we Avould be flooded with products 
which we could not work at all. W^e would have offered to 
us in superabundance ores which would not otherwise be 
marketable either from a commercial or technical view¬ 
point. We must necessarily, in the adjustment of our busi¬ 
ness relations Avith the shipper, exercise the doctrine of se¬ 
lection, as I stated before, and determine for ourseh^es to 
what extent we can go in the aid and deA^elopment of this 
important industry. 

And thus it happens that in the exercise of this doc¬ 
trine of selection and in our intense desire to aid in the de¬ 
velopment of these mineral resources, we are called upon 
very frequently to give to certain shippers favors to aid 
them in the develoiiment of their properties which could not 
uniA^ersally be applied. It is a Avell-knoAvn fact that men 
will not delve in the ground for the exploitation and pro¬ 
duction of ore unless they can meet their just reAvard. It 
is a AA^ell-knoAvn fact that the production of ores embraces 
not only the mining of very low grade products, but also 
those of a more generous cliaracter, and it becomes incum¬ 
bent upon us to take large quantities of low grade products 
at times at an absolute sacrifice, in the expectation that AA^e 
will finally reap our own reAvard in the receipt of higher 
grade products which will yield us a profitable margin for 
working. It is not satisfactory to state that because a. 
certain mine has receiA^ed a certain working 
charge in order to meet the peculiar conditions 
surrounding the development of that property we must 
uniA^ersally apply the same, We do endeavor, and we con- 


210 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


sisteiitly follow out the proj>Tam of endeavoring to please 
everyone, large shipper and small shipper, under like condi¬ 
tions and npon a like basis of terms, but Ave innst reserve 
to ourselves the privilege of making exceptions in order to 
meet peculiar conditions as Ihey arise and to aid in suc¬ 
cessfully developing such properties. 

If it is not taking too much of the time of this Congress, 
it mav be interesting to Amu to know that Ave receive from 
Lake county nearly 53 per cent, of our total in])ut. We have 
active competition in Lake county. We receive from ritkin 
county—that is, the mining cam}) of Aspen—111 per cent.; 
Ave receive from Teller county, Avhere the (Tipple Creek ores 
are i)roduced, 12.7 }ier cent., and Ave receive from Mineral 
county, Avhich embraces the mining camp of (Teede, 5.8 per 
cent. The production from all other cani])s is small and is 
almost a negligible quantity, taken individually, in com- 
])arison Avith these great percentages. 

We have to-day, in the receipt of these ores, seven })rin- 
cipal classes of ore, Avhich I Avill enumerate later. I Avill 
giAm AUAU a histoiw of the changed condition as far as smelt- 
ing rates are concerned, of these classes, so that you may 
knoAV Avhat the })olicy of the company has been and AAdiat 
the effect of that policy has been uiAoii the lAroduction of 
ore: 


(Jn Leadville dry sul]>hid(>s, Avhich are [iroduced in 
great quantities, the Auilues liaAm decreased from an average 
of 114.05 ])er ton in 1901 to |10.03 in 1905—a reduction of $4 
])er ton. Of this decrease the American Smelting and Ke- 
fining Com}3any has absorbed f 1.00 })er ton. That is to say, 
it has given that to the ]Arodncer of the ore. And during 
this iieriod, I desire to emphasize the fact that Ave have ac¬ 
complished this in the face of the dismantling of the Iavo 
plants to Avhicli 1 have directed attention, and in the face of 
a constant rise in Avages, as Avell as in the price of all the 
commodities Avhich we have been recemng. In conse(}uence 
of this ]Aolicy the production of Leadville lias increased from 
94,000 tons of dry sulphides in 1902 to 164,000 tons at the 
}Aresent time. 

We Avill take the Leadville lead sulphides. We have 
reduced our margin in the last five years on those products 
fl.57 ])er ton, and in comparison Avith the rates Avhich ob¬ 
tained in 1894 the total reduction Avhich has been effected 
on that product has been from |5.00 to ?6.00 per ton. 

On Leadville silicious ores, the silver-bearing alone, 
the gross value has decreased from |20X)9 in 1891 to fid,08 





SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: RESPONSE 


211 


ill 181)5, of which decrease the siueltiug company has ab¬ 
sorbed $1.20 per ton. 

1 liave already told you what has happened in the Crip¬ 
ple Creek district, where not only the value had risen above 
what it was in 1902 to the extent of $7.00 per ton, but as a 
matter of fact, where we have reduced our own working 
margin by over $1.00 per ton. 

In Aspen, exclusive of lead concentrates and lead ores 
which have been produced, oiving to the inability to market 
the crude low grade ore, the value has shown a decrease 
from $17.19 in 1901 to $8.21 at the present time. Our aver¬ 
age margin has been reduced from $1.70 per ton on tliis ma¬ 
terial, but notwithstanding tiie fact that we have aided in 
the production of this ore in every way, the production did 
fall oil* from 108,000 tons in 1901 "to 50,000 tons at the pres¬ 
ent time. With the increase in the price of silver, however, 
we expect an increase in the present production, and I have 
read in the paper to-day that on account of the treatment 
charges which we are giving to the camp and tlie values 
which the ores now contain, there has been a voluntarv in- 
crease to the miners of 25 cents per day. Tliat does not look 
very much as if we were trying to exterminate that i)artic- 
ular industrv. 

t- 

Let us take the great camp of Creede, Avhich has pro¬ 
duced enormous quantities of silicious ore in times gone by. 
Creede is purely a silver camp. The gross value in 1901 was 
$17.18, and it has declined up to the present time to $12.52, 
per ton. We have absorbed fully one-half of this de 
dine ourselves, and our margin has been reduced from $8.07 
to $5.65 at the present time. In 1891, twelve years ago, our 
margin, when we were operating as independent smelters, 
was $15.00 a ton on these ores, Avhile at the present time Ave 
are taking the loAver grade ores at the ridiculous and absurd 
price of $1.00 per ton treatment in order not to let those 
mines close. 

The iron oxide in Leadviile production, Avhich is a llux- 
ing proposition, has decreased from 192,000 tons in 1901 to 
65,000 tons in 1905. Tlie value per ton has decreased from 
$1.57 in the former year to $2.80 in 1905. As Ave smelt the 
same quantity of ore which Ave smelted then and demand 
the same (inantity of flux, it has been necessary for us to 
substitute barren liux for a product Avhich formerly gave us 
a margin in smelting. 

If AA-e take the smaller camps—Gilpin and Clear Creek 
and Boulder counties—Ave find that from 1902 to 1906 Ave 
have stimulated the production of Ioav grade silicious ores 




212 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


which was necessary in order to keep those camps in opera¬ 
tion, and so from a total production of those ores of 1,000 
tons in 1902, owing to the constant decrease in smelting 
charges, we have increased the tonnage to 16,000 tons corn¬ 
ing out of those camps at the present time. That does not 
look as if we were trying to exterminate that industry. And 
this is notwithstanding the fact that the gross values of 
those ores have declined from |48.80 in 1902 to f22.78 at the 
present time. In Boulder county we purchased 2,464 tons in 
1902. From Boulder the shipments have increased to over 
12,000 tons in 1905. The avei^age gross value of the ore de¬ 
creased from f46.29 in the former year to |21.66 in 1905. 
In 1894 the treatment charge on the silicious ore from Clear 
Creek county was $13.00 per ton; now we are taking dry 
ores from Clear Creek, Gilpin and Boulder counties under 
110.00 per ton in value at $4.00 per ton treatment in order to 
stimulate the production of richer ores. In 1894 the smelt¬ 
ers paid from 30 to 47 cents a unit for lead in Clear Creek 
and Gilpin counties, while to-day the Clear Creek miners are 
receiving for their lead from 491 to 644 cents per unit Avith 
a reduction per ton for treatment from $9.70 to $5.60. Here 
again it is the same story, namely, a better price for aA^erage 
lead ores is being paid as compared Avith the price of ten 
years ago. 

In going thus briefly over the situation as it appears to 
us, Ave can trutlifullv sav that Ave have made an honest en- 
deaAmr in eA^ery direction to identify our interests with those 
of the producer. We recognize that AA^e are inseparably con¬ 
nected with the rise or the fall of the great mining inclustry 
and that we can not hope to fill our furnaces and thriA^e with 
the extinction of the mines. In eA^ery possible channel that 
confronts us Ave have made improvements, and we liaA^e not 
hesitated to giA^e the mining community the benefit of those 
improA^ements in order to encourage it as a proper stimulus 
to their exploitation and exploration work. 

We hope that we have impressed eA^'erybody AAuth a be¬ 
lief in the integrity of our purpose, and we certainly shall 
be ready at all times to listen to any grievances which mav 
be presented to us in order that the same may be rectified 
to the mutual benefit of all parties in interest. 


Mining in the Joplin District 


BY CH. GUENGERICH. 

The Jopliu mining district is located on the western 
slope of the Ozark monntains and extends from the Miami 
Indian Territory mines in the southwest, through the south¬ 
east corner of Kansas to Stotts City and Aurora, Missouri, 
in the northeast, about sixty miles, with a width from 
Granby, Missouri, on the south, to Neck City, Missouri, on 
the north, a distance of about twenty-four miles. 

This region now furnishes 50 per cent, of the zinc ore 
smelted in the United States and is of a qualit}^ unexcelled 
for purity anywhere in the world. The remaining 50 per 
cent, of zinc ore is obtained from localities scattered over 
half a dozen states, British Columbia and Mexico. 

Metallic zinc, west of the Alleghanies was first smelted 
in La Salle, Illinois, in 1858, b}^ the Matthiessen & Hegel er 
Zinc Company. Soon after that time some si^elter was made 
in Mineral Point, Wisconsin, but tliese works were after¬ 
wards converted into oxide works. In 1808 the first spelter 
west of the Missouri river was turned out at Potosi, Mis¬ 
souri. In 18GT an unsuccessful attempt was made to manu¬ 
facture zinc spelter with charcoal in Sharp county, Arkan¬ 
sas. The Illinois-Wisconsin works depended for their ore, 
which was mostly carbonate, on the Galena, Illinois, dis¬ 
trict, but after the old dump piles which were made during 
the lead mining period were all cleaned up, the outpin: be¬ 
came stationary, if not declining, putting a stop to further 
growth of the business. 

Zinc blende was first successfully treated in 18G8. 
About that time the first sheet zinc was rolled in this coun¬ 
try. In 1873, shortly after the discovery of some rich lead 
deposits near what is now the center of the city of Joplin, 
Missouri, by Moffett Sergeant, a few carloads of zinc blende 
of exceptionally fine quality found their way to the La Salle- 
Peru works, and from that year dated the wonderful growth 
of these the richest known zinc mines. The Webb City and 
Galena, Kansas, mines were opened in 1876 and 1877; Au¬ 
rora in the year 1880; Baxter, Kansas, and Indian Territory 
mines in 1904. Oronogo and Granby are older lead mines 
and were worked already in the 150s. 



214 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Other counties iu South Missouri show zinc in many 
places, also northern Arkansas, but none of these mines 
have so far grown to any importance. 

From 1,000 tons or so in 1873, the zinc ore output of the 
Joplin district—that is, Jasper, Newton and Lawrence 
counties in Missouri; part of Cherokee county, Kansas, and 
the northeast corner of Indian Territory, has grown to 
27,500 tons in 1880, to 115,000 tons in 1890, to 250,000 tons 
in 1900, and will reach, at the present rate of outimt, 290,000 
in 1906. 

f 

For the first few years lead ore was the predominating 
mineral, but in 1881 zinc was already the most important 
and valuable ore. This was caused partly by the very low 
price of lead which prevailed after the opening of the Lead- 
ville mines. 

With the growth in x>i‘odiiction an almost continuous 
rise in xirice has taken place from |9.00 jier ton in 1873 to 
from flO.OO to |50.00 at the j^resent time. The value of this 
year’s outi^ut jiromises to be fully $12,000,000.00, Avhich,' 
together with $3,000,000.00 for lead ore, Avill make a total of 
$15,000,000.00. 

Uj) to 1877 all the zinc ore mined Avas smelted in Illi¬ 
nois, with the excei)tion of a small quantity used by a Weir 
City, Kansas, smelter. The zinc silicate, found in large 
quantities in Granby in the early ’70s, Avas used in St. Louis 
smelters. In 1877 the first smelter Avas built iu Pittsburg, 
Kansas, and the cheaj) coal (f4.00 to $5.00 j^er car for slack) 
caused a number of smelters to be built in the Kansas- 
Missouri coal fields. At times the output of ore greAV faster 
than the smelter cajAacity and quantities of ore were ex¬ 
ported to Europe. Colorado blende was first treated iu Kan¬ 
sas in 1899. After the experiments Avith natural gas, 
started in 1896 in Tola, Kansas, proved successful, it took 
but a foAV years before all the coal smelters in the Kansas- 
Missouri coal fields Avere shut doAvn or remoA^ed to the aas 
fields and iieAV ones erected to take advantage of the cheap 
and convenient fuel. To-day 56 to 60 per cent, of the spelter 
production of the states falls to the Kansas gas smelters. 

In the first fifteen years or so, only the shalloAvest, the 
richest and the most easily mined ore dejAosits were ex¬ 
ploited, and in the course of time several supposed bed 
rocks Avere encountered, Avhich later on Avere sunk throuadi 
and richer ore bodies discoA^ered beloAA^ 

The first crusher was set up in 1879; the first dressing 
and separating plant in 1880, and from that on hand jigs, 



MINING IN THE JOPLIN DISTRICT 


215 


Armstrong crushers, together with horse pumps ami hoist’ 
ers, whims a ml Avhips soou became thiugs of the past. 

The lirst separatiug plauts Ai'ere built after approved 
European plans Avith careful sizing, shaking tables, but out 
of this the typical Joplin 100-ton mill or multiple thereof 
has been evolved in course of time, Avitli hopper feed, 
crusher and rolls; one or more sets of chat rolls, imperfect 
sizing through roughing jigs, cleaning on the cleaning jigs, 
generally of tiA^e cells, and in most of the iieAver mills, sliak- 
ing tables. While under certain conditions these mills do 


not Avork entirely satisfactorily, often necessitating recleau- 
ing of the tailings, on the Avhole they seem best adapted to 
the AA ork required of them and the conditions of the mines. 

Almost inAuiriably the mines are Avorked by lessees at 
a royalty Auirying from 10 per cent, to 25 per cent, on lots 
generally from five to ten acres. Prospecting is done by 
churn drills at a cost of from 85 to 90 cents per foot. Shaft 
sinking costs on an average flO per foot. In the opening of 
neAV ground the expense of draining may, hoAvever, make 
the cost of sinking A^ry much greater—even up to flOO.OO 
per foot and over. A mill calculated to handle 100 tons of 
mine dirt per shift Avill cost flO.OOO.OO. The dirt should con¬ 
tain 5 per cent, blende in order to make a mine pay under 
present average conditions; though under especially favor¬ 
able circumstances as Ioav as S per cent, has yielded hand¬ 
some profits. 

Miners AAmrk in eight-hour shifts Avith Avages §2.50 to 
§2.75 per shift. Much of the cutting and hoisting is done 
by contract. 

Zinc is sold mostly on assay, GO per cent, dry Aveight 
being the basis, §1.00 plus or minus for each per cent, above 
or beloAV GO per cent.; for iron §1.00 for each per cent, above 
1 per cent, is deducted. The iron contents seldom go over 
3 per cent., and much of the ore contains less than 1 per 
cent. The feAV ores having more iron are tijeated on Cleve¬ 
land magnetic separators. Lead seldom reaches 1 per cent, 
in the blende marketed. 

The deepest mining in tlie district is noAV done r,i a 
depth of 200 feet, except in Aurora, Avhere a depth of 300 
feet has been reached. Aurora has an elevation of 1,250 
feet against from 800 feet to 1,200 feet for Jasper county. 
The irregular, pockety occurrence of the ore bodies in the 
upper runs has giA^en place in many localities to a pretty 
uniform sheet formation or blanket vein underlying large 
tracts of land at a depth below 175 feet. In some of the 
holes drilled to greater depths zJnc ore has been found dOAvn 
to 1,000 to 1,200 feet. 



216 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


The lead ore is also of o-reat purity. The soft Missouri 
ore is mostly treated in local smelters iii modified Scotcdi 
hearths, the fumes collected in trails and stacks or in bags 


and converted into sublimed lead yielding a. pigment of su¬ 
perior quality. Zinc white is ])roduced in Joplin and Ooffey- 
ville, Kansas, from Koav ]Mexico ores. 

Another by-product of the mines is lately attracting 
considerable interest; the tailing, consisting of chert with 
an admixture (in varying proportions) of limestone. Here¬ 
tofore this material has been used extensively for railroad 
ballast and in the construction of a system of public roads 
unequalled by any other section of the West. Later, how¬ 
ever, its superior adaptability for concrete work and cement 
brick has been ascertained and plants for such uses are un¬ 


der consideration. 

The lot of the Joplin miner is cast in pleasant places. 
An unsurpassed climate, an abundance of pure water in 
copious springs and numerous streams, fruitful soil; joined 
on the Avest by the grain fields of Kansas and the cattle 
ranches on the south and the Indian Territory; and being 
itself a part of the land of the ^^big red applehaving in 
the northern part of Jasper county one of the best AA’^inter 
Avheat producing regions of Missouri, and in the western 
part, in the toAvn of Sarcoxie, the greatest strawberry grow¬ 
ing and shipping point in the Union, the Joplin miner has 
the advantage of living in a county the total surplus prod¬ 
ucts of which aggregated f22,TT8,000.00, more than any 
other county in the Union. Hatung for poAver the choice be- 
tAveen electricity, created by the neA^er-failing streams, 
cheap coal, almost within its gates, and of natural gas 
' brought to its houses, its mines and its mills from the larg¬ 
est gas fields A^et discovered in the states; liaAdng a law- 

CT’ 7 

abiding, intelligent citizenship, where strikes and lock-outs 
liaA^e never yet disturbed the pleasant relations betAveen em¬ 
ployer and employe, Avhere the latter have ahvays had as an 
incentive to the faithful performance of his task the exam¬ 
ple of others who have themselves risen from common spade 
hands through their oAvn exertions to be mine operators and 
OAvners; the Joplin miner is placed in the enAuable position 
of living in a district replete Avith abundant wealtli from the 
ranch, the farm and the mines. 


The Enforcement of Mining.r;Laws 


BY CHARLES L. DIGNOWITY. 

Honorable Chairman and Fellow-Members of this Most 
Oraeions Conyention: As we stand to-day upon the thresh¬ 
old of a new century, we feel the strain and tension of ^dhe 
strenuous life/^ and in this race for wealth, power, fame and 
position we sometimes wish that we could return again to 
the days of simpler liyiug and possibly of higher thinking. 
We wish that we could check for a while this ^^pace that 
kills’^ and ^ Valk quietly with the gods of old in the Gardens 
of Spice.’’ 

Fpon the other hand, however, Ave are consciously 
proud of the strides our country is taking, of the fame she is 
reaching, compared with the other nations of the Avorld. We 
boast and brag of our ‘‘American spirit,'’ of our army, our 
na\w, our Avealth and onr citizens. We knoAV, and others 
can see, that as a nation we are the most energetic, the most 
ambitious, and the most ingenious in the Avorld, Avhile rap^ 
idlA^ becoming the Avealthiest. All this is the price of “onr 
strenuous life.” 

Admitting, then, that Ave possess the merits of these 
great gifts, should Ave not use them to retain and enhance 
our reputation as a nation, and hold the poAver and place ^Ye 
are so eminently fitted for? 

Mining and agriculture are the foundations of the 
Avorld’s progress; the legitimate Avork nature has supplied 
to man. 

The real basic industry of the world’s Avealth is mining. 

Mining has giA^en the greatest poAver of one nation OAmr 
another for centuries. Doavii through the Dark Ages we 
trace its influence. 'Ivome and Spain flourished in all their 
ancient splendor with fabulous mines to draAV from, and fell 
Avhen those mines ceased to produce. So Ave can trace the 
influence of the Avorld’s treasure Amults from Solomon to 
ScliAvab, Avhich brings us to the present day, and a return of 
those prodigal displays of wealth which made the past rich 
in coloring and famed in song and story. Mines laAushed on 
the Old World riches, and created fortunes, titles and digni¬ 
ties ages liaA-e not been able to obliterate, though their glit¬ 
tering magnificence and power have been dimmed. 

To-day it is our turn Avith our virile and progressive na¬ 
tion. With onr mineral Avealth and diverse resources we 



218 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


may easily surpass all other countries, if we only preserve 
the integrity, and honesty that is necessary for tlie founda¬ 
tion. Are we doing so? Or, are Ave selling our birthright 
for a, mess of jiottage? 

It is a fact that to-day, in spite of all our vast mineral 
Avealtli, there are more Avildcat or so-called sage-brush in- 
cor]K)rations floated, and fed by the unsophisticated public, 
than there are legitimate mining comiianies. The major 
l)oition of the bogus claims on the market—if they exist at 
all—cover land Avhere nothing is Ausible but sand and sage 
brush; remote from Avood and Avater, ledge and boulder, 
upon Avhich no title or patent from the goA^ernment could be 
obtained as a mineral lode claim. 

To begin Avith, very few abide by the laAV that const!’ 
tutes a Amlid mining claim. I quote from ^T^indley on 
Mines’’: 

‘^To make a location it is first necessary to discoA^er ore, 
bearing gold, sih^er or other, metals, and this giA^es the 
source of the title to the miner, and no Auilid location can be 
made Avithout such discovery, and this discoA^ery must pre¬ 
cede location, or be made in advance of aiiA^ interA^ening 
right, and priority of discoA^ery giA^es priority of right over a 
location made Avithout a discovery. DiscoA^ery of detached 
pieces of quartz, mere bunches or float, is not sufficient. The 
size or richness of the vein is immaterial, but the discoA^erv 
must be of rock in place.” 

Enforce this laAv. Enforce tlie hiAV against the fraudu¬ 
lent use of the mails. Make it a criminal offense for false 
misrepresentation in selling stocks or claims, and create 
state mining inspectors to investigate every mine. Tax the 
mine, if necessary, to pay for such officials, or require a fee 
for information supplied, to defray the expense of the re¬ 
port. I Avould also suggest government bureaus of infor¬ 
mation, Avhose duties Avould be to iiiA’^estigate the standing 
of every mining company, and make every company unable 
to show good reasons for existence, illegal, and subject to 
c rim i n a 1 p r o s e c u t i o n. 

Tlie laws exist. The trouble is they are not enforced. 
The best hopes we may have at this coiiA^ention Avill never 
be consummated if Ave legislate and keep on legislating 
from now until the crack of doom, until legislation provides 
for the enforcement of its laws. One of the safeguards 
against wrong-doing is publicity. In England the share- 
liolder gets more ]irotection than his fellow-speculator on 
this side, and we Avould do well to take a few pointers from 
the Companies Act, which compels ])ublicity in tliat coun- 
trv. 



THE ENFORCEMENT OF MINING LAWS 


219 


This ^overnnient lias been aiijiealed to tliiie after time 
in the interests of investors to do something towards the 
security of their investments. The promises made in re¬ 
sponse have been profuse. But the performances have in¬ 
variably ended in miserable failures, and so it happens that 
faliirs of the worst type fatten upon the mining industry 
like grasshoppers upon the vine; and witli somewhat sim¬ 
ilar results. 


Tlie laws devised for tlie conservation and protection of 
fisheries and forests, are rigidlv enforced, and wliv not for 
mines? The mineral wealth of this countrv is the greatest 
national asset, and why should it not be zealously guarded? 
The present state of affairs is not creditable to those who 
charge themselves with watching over the welfare of the 
country and its industries. 

Every district where mining is carried on to any extent 
should boast of a geological department, which would do 
valuable work for science and practical mining. 

Anv person connected Avith any corporation who shall 
subscribe, endorse or A^erify to the publication of a pros¬ 
pectus, report or other paper which contains Avilfnlly fraud- 
nlent or exaggerated statements regarding its property or 
its operations, with the intention of defrauding any persons 
or the public generallv, should be deemed guilty of a feloiiA^ 
ining is canable, more than any other business or pur¬ 
suit, of strict and Avholesome surveillance, ensuring its hon¬ 
est and legitimate prosecution, if only the proper means be 
adopted. 

If the laws are enforced it Avill go a long Avay toAvards 
reAmlutionizing mining, placing it upon a sounder basis by 
limiting the machinations of the unscru]>ulous. 

ProsperitA^ AAdthout honor (*annot lixe. Honorable 
chairman and fellow-members of this coiwention, let us 
stand shoulder to shoulder against this existing evil. 


Mining and Mineral Resources of Wisconsin 


BY W. O. HOTCHKISS, ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST STATE GEOLOGICAL 

SURVEY, MADISON, WISCONSIN. 


' Wisconsin takes rank as one of the oldest mining states. 
Lead ore was discovered by Perrott in l(h)2 and its jiresence 
was verified bv Le Sueur in 1700 or 1701 and by John Carver 
ill 1766. The earliest mining in tlie northern Mississippi 
district was done in lowm in 1788 on land that was later oc¬ 
cupied by a city named after the first miner, Julien Du¬ 
buque. 

The lead and zinc ores lie in a sedimentary series which 
rests on a granitic floor. The geological colninu consists of 
the following formations, named from the to^o down; 

Silurian Niagara limestone. . 

f Cincinnati or Maquoketa Shales 
I (Found only in the mounds pro- 
I jecting above the general sur- 
I face.) 

Ordovician Galena magnesian limestone 250'. 

I (The chief surface rock.) 

1 Platteville or Trenton magnesian limestone, 40' to 100'. 


Cambrian 


L St. Peters Sandstone, 50' to 150'. 

^ Lower magnesian limestone, 100' to 250'. 
Potsdam Sandstone, 800' to 1000'. 


Pre-Cambrian Pre-Cambrian floor—granite, etc. 


The ore deposits, so far as known and mined at present, 
lie entirely in the Galena and Platteville magnesian lime¬ 
stones. These limestones are much alike, being separated 
by a few feet or inches of clay or shale. Part of this shale 
is sufficiently impregnated with oil to burn upon ignition 
after drying, and is known as the oil ixick. Irregularities 
of deposition on the original sea-bottom on which they were 
laid down, together with some small amount of settling 
and folding since, have produced somewhat gentle undula¬ 
tions in these beds. It was noticed bv Professor T. C. Cham- 

« 

berlin, who had charge of the State Geological Survey 
thirty years ago, that many of the mines seemed to lie in the 
bottom of these depressions in the strata. This suggestion 
was worked out definitely by Pi^of. I^. S. Grant for the State 
Survey in his recent report on the district, and shoAvn con¬ 
clusively by constructing from drill and Avell records the 
contours of the base of the Galena limestone. From the 





MINING AND MINERALS IN WISCONSIN 


221 


maps thus prepared, it was at once eiddent that these de¬ 
pressions or troughs had an unquestionable relation to the 
ore bodies. Whether this is due to the simple segregation 
of the ore-bearing solutions in these troughs or is largely 
due to other factors yet unknown is a question, but the un¬ 
doubted fact remains that the ore bodies lie in these depres¬ 
sions. This fact has been of great value in guiding tlie 
drilling operations in many cases. 

The ore bodies occur in ^^crevices,^’ ^^flats” and ^^pitches.’’ 
The crevices are simply joint planes widened by solution of 
the wall rock. They contained the greater part of the lead 
that was mined in the early days. The crevices lead down 
to the ^^flats,” where the ore spreads ont into a blanket vein. 
These flats pitch down more or less steeply at the sides and 
are often connected below the flrst flat by secondary ones. 
These inclined veins at the sides of the flats are called 
pitches. The ore in the flats and pitches is chiefly galena 
and smithsonite above ground water level, and galena, 
sphalerite and pyrite below. 

Besides tliese forms of ore there is the disseminated va¬ 
riety in which the ore grains are scattered through the rock 
matrix. The disseminated ore is quite important now that 
concentrating mills have been erected to handle it, but in 

the old davs it was not of verv great value. 

♦ * • 

The flrst mining concerned itself with lead onlv. 
^^Jack’’ and ^hlrybone,’’ or sphalerite and smithsonite, wer^ 
impurities to be disposed of in the easiest manner possible. 
Indeed, a story is often told of hoAV a certain road from the 
Old Penitentiary mine at Mifflin was built up several feet 
with hundreds of tons of the ^Svorthless’^ jack. Among the 
earliest to appreciate the value of the drybone were two 
young Germans who were acquainted with the German zinc 

fields. Thev built a small furnace at Mineral Point and 

*' 

went around picking np troublesome rocks off the farmers^ 
fields—as a favor to the farmer, of course—which they 
brought back to their little furnace and turned into spelter. 
Later on they began to pay a small amount for these ^h^ocks’’ 
that were mostly smitlisonite. During the Civil War they 
were able to command fancy prices for their product, which 
was in great demand for the manufacture of brass cannon. 
It is of interest to know that this firm is still in the business 
of zinc smelting, though they have to pay somewhat more 
for their ore than they formerly did. They are favorably 
known in the Wisconsin zinc field as ^The Matthiessen-Heg- 
eler people.^^ 



222 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


The early lead miners were, for the most part, farmers 
who held miiiiui* as an avocation at which they could profit¬ 
ably employ their time when the weather did not necessitate 
or .permit their doing farm labor. The lead lay in the pock¬ 
ets and crevices near the suiface, and its extraction .re¬ 
quired no more cajiital than that ne'cessary for the purchase 
of a shovel and the construction of a windlass and a hand- 
jig. Quite naturally, when these miners got so deep that 
they could no longer keep the water out by baling, they 
stopped operations and started a new hole. Many tields are 
still useless and idle because of the numerous ^^sucker holes’^ 

thus left bv the earlv lead miners, ^fost of the few who 

* 

tried to use steam pumps found that power was too costly 
and ore too cheap to make the venture ])roiitable. 

About 1850 began a period of construction of long tun¬ 
nels to drain the ground into the valleys. Several projects 
of a very expensive nature for the times were completed, one 
being over two miles in length. The production of lead was 
at its maximum at this time, and companies capable of 
handling such undertakings had begun to operate. The 
production of pig lead, as given in Whitney’s Metallic 
Wealth of the United States—1851—increased from an av¬ 
erage of 2,324 tons per year for the decade from 1821-31 to 
an average of 21,598 tons per year for the decade from 
1841-51. From 1851-71 the production fell to about 7,000 
tons for the reason that the easilv reached mineral above 
water level was being exhausted. The total value of the 
production of lead to date is estimated at $50,000,000; zinc 
at $10,000,000. 

The carbonate of zinc was first made use of in 1860, 
when a production of 160 tons is chronicled. This became 
3,600 tons in 1866, aiid reached a maximum of 13,850 tons in 
1872. The sulphide, sphalerite, was first used in 1867, when 
420 tons Avere sold. This increased to 3,125 tons in 1869, 
and in 1875 the production was 10,270 tons. From this the 
production of dryboue and sphalerite gradually decreased 
or held even till 1902, Avhen the increasing prices for zinc 
caused the Wisconsin miners to sit up and take notice. 

There Avere a feAV mines Avhicli had been Avorking 
quietly on rich pure deposits before this time, and Avhen the 
higher prices came their proiits became so great that the 
imaginations of the inhabitants were fired Avith enthusiasm. 
EA-ery useless old field Avliere the ^‘sucker holes” testified 
to the presence of a former lead digging, became ])ossessed 
of a probable value as a zinc mine. Companies of lorval peo¬ 
ple Avere formed to secure leases and drill the ground to find 



MINING AND MINERALS IN WISCONSIN 


223 


if any of the prized ^^jack’' M^as present. The zinc occurs in 
a prosperous farming district, so it ^vas very easy to get 
together a group of from five to fifty peo])le who would, i)nt 
in from .flO to flOO each to explore a piece of x^roperty. Of 
these, an iinnsnally large proxjortion for an ordinary mining 
district were successful in finding ore. In one case—tlie 


David mine at Montfort—the comjDany of fifty had each j^aid 
in a f5 assessment on their f50 shares. The first hole was 
started with this money and struck fine looking ore. The 
stock immediately began to climb, and before the second 
hole had been sunk had been sold for as high as |1,000. The 
second hole only a few feet from the first struck the same 
kind of ore, and some few shares changed hands at fl,850. 
In the citv of Platteville the clank of the drill was never 


out of hearing. It was reported that at one time one hun¬ 
dred and fifty drills were working in the limifs of tliis city 
of about four thousand x)eoi>le. This excitement Avas mostly 
local, and local cax^ital did a large x^art of the exx^loriug. 

But this is only the sfory of the usual excitement Avhen 
X^eox^le are looking for ore. The test of the A^alne of a dis¬ 
trict is its behavior after this excitement has quieted doAvu. 
If things are x^oorer than rex^resented, the representatives 
of conservatiA^e capital Avill be turning aAvay and quiet re- 
XAorts made that ^fit’s only a bubble.’’ The case is different 
in Wisconsin, hoAvever. Many of the people that are most 
to be desired in a district are becoming interested. Men 
from Lake Superior iron ranges and tiie ]Michigan copper 
country from Hibbing and Dnlnth, from Iron mountain, 
IshxAeming and Oalnmet, have secured properties and are 
drilling and sinking shafts in many x^orts of the district. 
The x'^resence of these people sxieaks AveJl for permanence in 
a minino' district—von will find them interested in very 
feAV districts that are not most decidedly Avorth Avhile. 

]\ranv iieAV mills have been erected to take care of tlie 

* 

ore from the iieAV shafts, and These mills liave brought ueAV 
problems in concentration. Tlie or(' in the older mines Avas 
('om])aratiA^ely free from iron snlxihide, or ^^snlphnr,’^ as 
locally designated. The neAvly opened deposits have had- 
larger percentages of this to deal Avith in many cases, and 
as the smelters exact a penalty of one dollar per ton for each 
unit of iron over a minimum of or 2 per cent., it is highly 
desirable to get rid of as much of it as possible. This has 
been done in more or less crude roasters, in AAdiich the x^yDte 
is roasted to the magnetic sulpliide and extracted by a mag¬ 
netic machine. Little attempt is made as yet to see that the 
temperature of the roaster is just that needed to separate 



224 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


one atom of sulpluir and reduce the FeS 2 to FenSn+i—the 
magnetic form—this is a saving that will doubtless come 
later. Experiments are being carried on by the (diemical 
Engineering Department of tiie University of Wisconsin to 
see if better methods can not be applied. 

The mills consist of a series of crushers and jigs of the 
Missouri type. They are largely unprovided Avith slime ta¬ 
bles of any sort—all ores too tine for the jigs to save being 
sent into the tailings. The usual contract on a iieAV mill is 


that it shall saA^e 85 per cent, of the ore in the rock, but it 
is doubtful if man}" of them are keeping up to this standard. 
One mill test described in the Mining Magazine for June by 
Benjamin Hodge, a mining engineer at Platteville, sIioavs 
a saving of 86 per cent. Avhen the heads ran 17.64 per cent. 
In his analysis of the tailings he found that the material 
Avhich Avent through a 40-mesh sieve was 14 per cent, of the 
tailings and carried 6.2 per cent, of zinc—this being prob¬ 
ably fairly representative of the district and shoAving the 


urgent need of tables. Mr. Hodge had a table installed at 
this mill, Avhere it gaA^e A-ery satisfactory results. 

It is practically impossible to state an average for the 
zinc content of the ore that is being milled. That given 
above in Mr. Hodge’s test is probably a little too high to rep¬ 
resent the average. Considerable ore bearing from 1 per 
cent, to 25 per cent, zinc is milled, and it is doubtful if much 
ore ruuning beloAV 10 per cent, is treated at present, though 
it undoubtedly Avill be in the near future, but Avhere betAveen 


these ordinary limits the aA^erage lies can not be stated. 

The production of zinc for 1904 Avas sold for about 
$500,000 and the lead value Avas estimated at $135,000. In 
1905 this production aauis still greater and in 1906 Avill be be- 
tAveen $2,000,000 and $3,000,000. The number of uoav i)ro- 
ducing mines added to the list in 1905-6 has been large 
enough to raise the production to about one-seventh that of 
the Joplin district. It does not seem excessive, therefore, to 
estimate this year’s production at the figures above given. 

When it is recalled that hardly four years ago the first 
modern concentrating mill Avas erected and the use of the 
old hand jigs discontinued, and that since that time the i^ro- 
duction lias increased from about $250,000 Avorth of ore to 
nearly $3,000,000 Avorth, the rapid progress of the IVisconsin 
district is evident. But the end is by no means in sight. 
Thirty-live mills have been built in 1906, and more mines 
Avill be added to the producing list in 1906 than in 1905, so 
the increase is bound to continue. It is quite possible that 
the Wisconsin district may never equal tlie Missouri mines 




MINING AND MINERALS IN WISCONSIN 


225 


in niaximum output, but tliete is much territory yet to be 
explored, iu which the probable chances of finding ore are 
as good as they were two years ago on the land of some of 
the new big properties. New discoveries are continnally 
being made and more being sought for. Consequently if the 
present favorable prices continue, it may be confidently ex¬ 
pected that Wisconsin will rapidly take an important place 
as a zinc-producing state. 

Although zinc is at present occupying a larger share 
of the attention of the mining man who turns his thoughts 
towards Wisconsin, it must not be forgotten that Wisconsin 
produces iron ore of a value of about |1,000,000 more than 
the value of its zinc ore. This iron comes from the Gogebic, 
Baraboo, Florence and Iron Kidge districts. There are 
great areas of likely territory for the prosi^ector for iron 
also. Known outcrops of Huronian rocks of the same kind 
as those in which the enormous ore beds of the Lake Supe¬ 
rior districts are found are a standing invitation to the man 
with sufficient capital and daring to drill them for iron. 
Some of these have been drilled in recent years and iron for¬ 
mations were found. 

In conclusion, then, Wisconsin, with its |60,000,000 
record of lead and zinc and its annual f5,000,000 and more 
of metallic mineral products, must be granted recognition 
as a mining state. 


The Geological Distribution of Gold 


BY T. A. RICKARD, EDITOR OP THE MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS, 

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA. 

Wlieu gold AYiis discovered at Ballarat, in Australia, 
there was a great rush of adventurers to the diggings. Tt 
is recorded that in November, 1851, Henry La Trobe, the 
first governor of the new colony of Victoria, paid an official 
visit to the goldfield. As he rode among the sluice-boxes and 
pits of the miners, he was fascinated by the glamor of the 
search for gold, and became keenlj^ interested in the man¬ 
ner of its occurrence. Finally, finding himself talking to 
an old Cornishman of more than average intelligence, the 
governor said: ^L4nd from where do you think the gold 
conies?^’ The old miner leaned on his shovel and scratched 
his head, as he replied: Where it is, there it is; and where 
it aiidt, there be I.’’ For fifty-five years that reply has been 
echoed from many a prospect hole on both sides of the 
equator; it has been received as the last word of geolog¬ 
ical vision and the epitome of mining realization. The 
story is founded on fact and it is confirmed by individual 
experience, and yet it does but serve to emphasize the 
advance which has been made ,during half a centurv of 
investigation. The jibe at geology which makes other ver¬ 
sions of this original incident pass current among those 
that seek mineral wealth, *is not Avarranted to-doAL We 
liaA^e emerged from the uncertain shadoAvs of the daAvn; 
geology and mining face each other noAV Avith a better un¬ 
derstanding than in the golden age of Australian and Cali¬ 
fornian discoA^eiw. 

•' 

The i)ractical aid Avhich geology gives is a compara¬ 
tively recent development of the application of science to 
industry. When geology Avas yet an infant, looking at the 
Avorld from out of the cradle of LyelPs “Principles,’^ min¬ 
ing had already attained a Amnerable age. The young 
science offered to guide the old blind delver of the rocks 
and in the effort made seAwal childish mistakes, which are 

still remembered in the daA^s of its inaturitA^ 

• » 

Sir Ivoderick Murchison made the chief of these blun¬ 
ders that at one time estranged the geologist from the 
miner. The story of an error made by a man of such ac- 
knoAvledged talent should not merely ])rovoke derision noAV 
that Ave have the ampler light of a fuller day and, possess- 



GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD 


227 


ing fai'ts which were iinkiiown to liim, can thus, as it were, 
write last year’s almanac, but it should furnish a striking 
warning against (“onfonnding a coincidence with a conse¬ 
quence and being led thereby to frame a wide generaliza¬ 
tion upon a narrow basis. It will be remembered that in 
the course of his famons elaboration of the Silurian system 
he made a stndt" of the Ural mountains, including the gold 
fields of that region, which in the first half of the last cen¬ 
tury were of far greater importance than they are now. 
On his return from Knssia, the results of his iuyestigatlons 
appeared in seyeral papers, wliich were published during 
1841 and the succeeding years. In 1844 he drew attention 
to the similarity existing between the gold-bearing rocks of 
the ITrals and certain specimens from Australia, sent to him 
by his friend Oonnt Strzelecki. The Ural rocks were highly 
altered crystalline schists, while those from Australia were 
silicions slates. Both were of Lower Silurian age, as was 
proved by fossils and correlation. Murchison noted the re¬ 
semblance between these rocks and remarked that the Aus¬ 


tralian specimens exhibited quartz, although no gold had 
as yet been found. Furthermore, he drew attention to the 

similarity in the trend of the Australian cordillera and his 

* 

beloved Urals. He really knew nothing about the geolog¬ 
ical structure of Australia; nevertheless, the analogies 
which he detected led him to suggest that the Bine Moun¬ 
tains in New South Wales might also contain gold-bearing 
veins. In 1846 he learned that specimens of gold ore had 
actually been found there, and he then advised Cornish 
miners to go to Australia to search for gold. In the mean¬ 
while, he iiad given out a statement, based on his studies 
in Enssia, that, gold would be found to be exclusively con¬ 


fined to the Paleozoic rocks, and especially to the Lower 
Silurian. Therefore, when, in 4851, it was annonnced that 
wonderful discoveries of gold had been made in \ ictoria 
amid beds of slate and sandstone belonging to .this geolog¬ 
ical period, they were heralded as the confirmation of a 
scientific dictum, and Murchison was generally congraln- 
lated on his successful prediction. He congratulated him¬ 
self. In the third edition of ''Silnria,” published in 1850, 
the ^Tndnctive reasoning” which led to his hypothesis is 
repeated, and he says: ^Aly chief article of belief has now 
proved to be true—that is, that the rocks which are most 

auriferous are of Silurian cl ^ 1 ' 

alization is attain worded tlnis: “The Paleozoic accuiinila- 
tioiis » * * particularly tlu' Lower Silurian * * y 

are the chief sources whence <>old has been or is derived.” 



228 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Australia indeed appeared to corroborate tliis. It was 
not until 1864, when the results of the work of the Geologi¬ 
cal Survey of California, under Whitney, were published, 
that tlie Silurian formation lost a pre-eminence to which it 
was never entitled. The gold-bearing rocks of California 
were found to belong to the Jurassic. Murchison’s hypoth¬ 
esis was confounded. It was a fallacy which the later de¬ 
velopment of gold-mining districts in other parts of th'e 
globe has shattered into as many fragments as there are 
subdivisions of geological time. 

The following tabulated statement shows at a glance 
that the chief gold fields of the world are scattered through 
the entire sequence of geological strata, from the Archean 
to the Tertiarv. The Lower Silurian of the Urals is now 
scarcely worth mentioning, the gold production of that re¬ 
gion having dwindled to insignificance. Since Murchison’s 
day the geographical center of Russia’s gold production has 
sliifted steadily eastward. It was once at Ekaterinburg, in 
the Urals; it passed to the Yenesei, and then to the Olekma. 
To-day the chief gold region is that which is drained by 
the A moor and its tributaries. The gold fields of Victoria, 
in Australia, also refuse, now, to be identified any longer 
with Murchison’s blunder, several of the best districts in 
that colony having been developed in the Upper Silurian, 
as distinguished from the prevailing Lower Silurian of the 


Geolojjfical Distribution of Gold as Illustrated by the Principal Minima 


Period. 

Quarternary 

Tertiary 

Cretaceous 

Jurassic 

Triassic 

Permian 

Carboniferous 

Devonian 

Silurian 

Cambrian 

Alg'onkian 

Archean 


Districts of 

Rock 

Andesite ' 

Eruptive 

Sandstone 

Amphibolite Schist 

Limestone 

Cong-lomerate 

Shale 

Cong-lomerate 
Slate and Sandstone 
Slate and Quartzite 
Schist 

Granite and Schist 


the World. 

District 
Monte Cristo 
Cripple Creek 
Verespatak 
Mariposa 
Raibl 
Stupna 
Gympie 

Witwatersrand 

Bendigo 

Waverley 

Homestake 

Lake of the Woods 


Region 
Washington 
Colorado 
Transylvania 
California 
Carinthia 
Bohemia 
Queensland 
Transvaal 
Victoria 
Nova Scotia 
South Dakota 
Ontario 


first discovered gold veins at Ballarat and Bendigo. Newer 
mining regions, scattered all over the globe, afford testi¬ 
mony which denies the supposed relation between gold de¬ 
posits and the age of the rock enclosing them. Although 
numerous rich districts occur in igneous formations of tlie 
Tertiary period, no important gold field of the present day 
is identified with sedimentary rocks later than the Creta¬ 
ceous; nevertheless, to make the testimony complete, it can 
be stated that a conglomerate of undoubted Tertiary age, 
covering an extensive area in southwestern (Vlorado, con¬ 
tains gold veins, which have been mined at a profit. If 
eruptive rocks be included, we liave the testimonv of J. E. 


GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OP GOLD 


229 


b])iiri' that the gold veins of Monte Cristo, in the state of 
W ashington, occur in andesite and tonalyte of Pleistocene 
or (Quaternary age, and at Hteomboat Springs, J^evada, gold 
lias been detected in cracks traversing the sinter around a 
thermal vent; this rock can therefore be labeled Kecent. 
The Laurentian granitoid-gneiss of western Ontario is tra¬ 
versed by important gold-bearing lode^. Therefore, the 
record of the rocks, in regard to their association with the 
occurrence of gold, is unbroken thronghont the main divi¬ 
sions of geological time. 

If geological authorities have made blunders in the 
application of theories to actual mining, it is only fair to 
acknowledge that practical mining captains have erred no 
less. Their errors, like those of greater men, have also 
sprung from that little knowledge which is ]>roverbially 
dangerous. Tims, possessing, as a rule, no wide geological 
training, they avoid the pitPills awaiting them in that di¬ 
rection only to get mired among hasty deductions based on 
the recognition of the physical peculiarities of rocks. For 
instance, in most mining districts the idea prevails among 
mining men that a particular rock is favorable to the occur¬ 
rence of gold and silver; this may be true indeed of any one 
especial locality, but I have commonly found that mining 
men apply their restricted experience to other, and quite 
dissimilar, districts by the use of sweeping generalizations 
Avhich are based on such local knoAvledge alone. Thus, in 
South Africa, granite is looked upon askance as being ex¬ 
tremely unlikely to contain profitable gold veins, and those 
Avho liaAm had their experience in the Transvaal are apt to 
be pessimists when they'find themselves amid a granite en¬ 
vironment. In Colorado, slate and schist are not character¬ 
istic of successful mining, therefore these rocks are unfavor¬ 
ably regarded, while granite is accepted as a likely terraue. 
dll California, the great gold mining belt is in slate and 
schist, while on the other hand the granite of the Sierra 
Nevada has been less successfully explored, therefore, 
‘^black slate^’ is the desired evidence of ]irobable richness. 
A mining district in India Avas recently condemned for the 
reason that the prevailing rock Avas a hornblende schist and 
yet the productive Kolar gold field is situated amid rocks 
of this very kind. Limestone is regarded in (Colorado as 
the depository of enormous ore bodies, such as hav(^ made 
Leadville and As])en famous, but in British Columbia it is 
considered, by many, to suggest small and erratic occur¬ 
rences of ore, much less desirable than the supiiosedly per¬ 
sistent type of vein that occupies a fault fracture. 


I 


230 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

Tliese generalizations liave delayed the discovery of 
several mining regions which are now highly productive. 
Experienced Australian miners passed the conglomerate 
lodes of the Witwatersrand because the conditions were be¬ 
yond their ken, which was largely confined to the slate and 
sandstone of such districts as Bendigo and Ballarat. The 
Cornishmen who had worked successfully for tin in their 
native land and for gold in Victoria failed to recognize the 
possibilities of Broken Hill. When Crif>ple Creek was 
first visited by old-mine managers from the Gilpin and 
Leadville districts, an unfavorable verdict was pronounced 
by men who were more familiar with granite and limestone, 
as ore-bearing rocks, than with an intricate series .of new 
volcanics. In the case of this, the richest gold-producing 
district in North America, I can vouch for the fact that the 
men of science proved far better prophets than those who 
were versed in the actual practice of mining; the latter sup¬ 
posed that the conditions at Cripple Creek were unique, a 
supposition which disregarded the fact that the larger num¬ 
ber of the richest veins in the San Juan region, in the same 
state, were in a rock of almost identical age and composi¬ 
tion, and, to go farther afield, that there were at least two 
foreign localities, Transylvania and New Zealand, where a 
similar andesite-breccia had proved to be the envelope to 
rich lodes of gold and silver ore. 

Instances of similar blunders might be multiyilied. But 
it is not necessary. Are they not written in the chronicles 
Avhich tell the storv of mining discoA^erv the world over? 
Besides, it will serve no useful purpose to deal in desti'uc- 
tive criticism only; the recital of the foregoing facts is in¬ 
tended to clear the ground before offering something, be- it 
only a rough stone or two, wher-eAvith to build a peiananent 
structure. We liaA^e discarded the old notions that con¬ 
nected the occurrence of gold Avith any special stratigraphic 
horizon or a particular petrographic encasement, in other 
AAmrds, any one formation or any one I'ock; then let us ask 
if there be not some other generjilization that avails us in 
the search for the metal. Is it all AAithout rhyme or reason, 
is the gold as much in sea water as in syenite, in the young¬ 
est and in the oldest rock, in high mountains and in flat 
deserts? The ansAver is that the occurrence of ore depends 
neither on the geological age nor the petrography of a dis- 
tri(d, but upon local structural (‘onditions and upon an 
eruptiA^e activity often identified Avith specific periods in 
geological time. To come to particulars, there is plenty of 
evidence, which I have collected during the last ten years 




GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD 


231 


and which is too bulky to be offered on this occasion, that 
the eruptive rocks closely associated with the deposits of 
the i)recious metals in Colorado are of early Tertiary age; 
they are post-Cretaceous and pre-Pliocene. The close of 
the Cretaceous period in Colorado Avas one of mountain- 
making, it was a time of great orographic moA^ement, that 
is, the main ranges of the Pocky mountains underAvent sIoav 
uplift and, in the j)rocess, their constituent strata were 
folded and buckled, were crushed and fractured. Accom¬ 
panying this disturbance, possibly the cause of it, more 
probably a manifestation of deeper unrest, there came a 
tremendous outpouring of laAm. Some of it Avas emitted 
violently from orifices so as to form Amlcanoes, as at Cripple 
Creek and Silver Cliff, some of it fell into large areas of 
fresh water and consolidated into nearly horizontal de¬ 
posits of breccia, as in the San Juan, and another portion 
remained in the shape of dikes, sheets, and cores of igneous 
rock traA’^ersiug the older formations in dAerse directions 
and shapes, as at Leadville and in Gilpin. This epoch of 
Arnicanic ruction lasted long, it was intense during early 
Eocene time, and again at the close of that period, contin¬ 
uing into the Miocene; and as the Auilcanism died out, it 
had its sequel in a longer era of thermal actiAuty, that is, 
the Amlcanic heat no longer expressed itself in the explosAe 
escape of steam and rock fragments, but Avas manifested 
in the heating of underground Avaters and in the quickening 
of their soh^ent action, their circulation, and the precipita¬ 
tion of their contents in tlie approach to surface. Whev- 
ever Ave knoAV the age of the eruptive rocks in contact Avith, 
or related to, the occurrence of gold (and silver) in Colorado, 
Ave find them to be post-Cretaceous; sometimes Ave can as¬ 
certain definitely that they are Eocene or Miocene. This 
is true of the quartz-felsite of LeadAulle and Aspen, the 
plionolite of Cripple Creek, tlie andesite of Ouray and Tel- 
luride, the porphyrite of Kico^ the rhyolite of Silver Cliff, 
Summitville, and Creede, the diorite of Ophir and La Plata 
mountains, and when we come to the mining districts in 
unstratified rocks, such as the granitoid gneiss of Boulder, 
Gilpin and Clear Creek, we find a quartz-andt^site in the 
localities where profitable mining is being done; and Avhile 
Ave can not determine the age of that intrusive, for lack of 
vounger rocks that it penetrates, AA^e find that it beais a 
close petrographic analogy to the quartz-felsite or porphyry 
of Leadville, Avhich does (as at Breckenridge) penetrate the 
Cretaceous. I knoAV of no eruj)tiA"e affiliated AAith profitable 
gold or silver ore deposits in Colorado that is geologically 


232 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


older than early Tertiary. Tn Colorado, therefore, a partic¬ 
ular period of vulcanism and its sequelae of thermal activ¬ 
ity are identilied with the formation of the fractures and 
the deposition of tlie ore, respectively, that liave given ns 
valuable mines. 

In other regions, it is likely that other i^eriods were 
beneficial to the miner. It would be an old sort of blunder 
to conclude that the particular conditions observed in Colo¬ 
rado must have world-wide ay>plication. No blanket theory 
will do. To illustrate; in eastern Australia (in New South 
Wales and Queensland) the great epoch of eruptive activity 
was much earlier than in Colorado, naniely, at the close of 
the Carboniferous period; that was Australia’s time of 
mountain building, the Carboniferous strata being often 
found standing vertical underneath the horizontal beds of 
the Permian, thus constituting the greatest unconformity in 
Australian geology. This period is identified with the coal 
measures and, strange as it may seem to us in America, with 
gold deposition, for in many portions of the basal beds of 
tlie Permo-Carboniferous series alluvial gold is found, some¬ 
times in such quantity as to be worth mining. The rock 
characteristic of this eruptive period and associated with 
the gold deposits of the eastern part of Australia is a grano- 
diorite, sometimes differentiated as quartz-felsite. There is 
no evidence of regional eruption in eastern Australia later 
than the Carboniferous; there are basic lavas belonging to 
late Cretaceous and earlv Tertiarv time, but thev are local 
and no ore bodies are associated with them. At Bendigo 
and Ballarat, of course, in southern Australia, we have Ter¬ 
tiary basaltic dikes in close association with the gold veins, 
but there is evidence suggesting that the original lode for¬ 
mation Avas started at the time when the neighboring gran- 
ite was extruded, and that was at the close of the Silurian 
period and before the DeAmnian sediments were laid doAvn; 
there is also good reason to believe that to the Tertiary auiI- 
canism we oAve the resolution and concentration of the gold 
in the ore bodies Aaaluable to man, in Victoria. That factor 
—of later mineralization and concentration—is less appar¬ 
ent in New South Wales, which has no gold fields compara¬ 
ble to Bendigo and Ballarat. In tlie TransAmal the conglom¬ 
erate is of Devonian age, but the dikes that penetrate it and 
that have infiuenced the distribution of the profitable ore 
are of Tertiary age. 

The subject is immensely Avide—^wide as the Avorld— 
and it is difficult to compress an intelligent treatment of it 
within reasonable limits. Deposits of gold ore occur in 






GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD 


233 


rocks of every age and in rock of every kind. The metal was 
deposited later than the encasing rock and it is likely that 
since it was so deposited it has been subject to constant 
solution and precipitation, by whicli it has been re-distrib¬ 
uted and concentrated. The first deposition, the time Avhen 
it Avas brought from beloAv the zone of rock fracture to the 
place of precij}itation, Avas associated Avith a thermal actiA- 
ity folloAving upon regional movements and Amlcanic erup¬ 
tions; that time of first formation mav haA^e been late or 
early, in the Cambrian or the Cretaceous of geological his¬ 
tory. But once so deposited, it became at once the sport of 
the chemical Avaters that find a passage both from the sur-. 
face and from the deep. These may have effected no note- 
Avorthy re-distribution of the gold along the rock fractures 
Avhere the ore lies; such Avas the case apparently in NeAV 
South Wales, for the gold deposited in Carboniferous time 
has not traveled far or been concentrated much. In other 
regions, for examjAle in Colorado, a much later era of frac¬ 
turing and Auilcanism has afforded the intense thermal actiA^- 
ity that led to the formation of ueAV rich A^eins and lodes, or 
caused the re-distribution and concentration of the gold in 
older and poorer deposits. 

After all, it is only the concentrations of gold that in-' 
terest us as miners; there is gold evervAvhere, eA-en in sea 
Avater, but Avhat Ave as miners Avant to knoAV is Avhere is 
there ore rich enough to more than pay the cost of exploita¬ 
tion and extraction. The old miner scratched his head and 
said, ^AVhere it is, there it is; and Avhere it ain’t, there be T.” 
The rest of us have often been Avhere it Avas not and Ave sym¬ 
pathize with him, but yet- not Avitliont hope, for Ave knoAV 
some of the causes that tended to concentrate the gold in 
one place and to impoverish the vein in another. The Avorld 
that lies underground may be dark and yet the safety lamp 
of science can be depended upqh for some light, and as we 
learn how to pass the dangerous places of uncertain knoAvl- 
edge, Ave shall at last be able to use Avithout danger the 
-naked illumination of substantiated theory. 

k 

' ’ ) 


i 


'■S ' 


I 


The Prevention of Mine Accidents 


BY EDWARD W. PARKER. 


Ill tlie circular aniiounciiig tlie provisional ])rograiii for 
this, the Ninth Aiiimal Session of the American Mining 
Congress, it is stated that it is exjiected that the convention 
will devote itself to arriving at a (‘onsensns of opinion as 
to what action Avill.bring about the greatest development 
of the mining industry. With this ])roposition I think every 
* member and delegate present is in ])erfect'accord, and prop¬ 
erly directed efforts must meet Avith gratifying results. But 
in the reaching after the material tilings of life, there are 
other matters affecting the mining industry AAdiich should 
not only not be overlooked, but Avliich should receiA^e the 
earnest attention of this organization. I note Avith sincere 
pleasure that one of the papers to be presented at this meet¬ 
ing is on the preA^ention of mining frauds by state legisla¬ 
tion, Governor Pardee of California. More injury has 
been done the mining industry by the operations of unscru¬ 
pulous promoters than could possibly be estimated, and 
aiiA" action taken bA^ this conA^ention which will tend toAAmrd 


the correction of these abuses aa ill redound to the substan¬ 
tial benefit of the American Mining Congress. 

But the particular subject Avhich I desire to present 
as one AvortiiA" of Amur consideration is the securing, bA^ 
legislative action or otherAAUse, of greater safety to mine 
employes. We have not, unfortunately, statistical data re¬ 
lating to casualties in all branches of the mining industry, 
but Ave have through the reports of mine inspectors some 
statistics of the accidents occurring in the coal mines of the 
country. A compilation Avhich T have made from these offi¬ 
cial reports shoAvs that in seAmnteen states, Avhose total 
production amounted in 1905 to 306,092,237 short tons, or 
nearly ninety ])er cent, of the total for the United States, 
and Avhose coal mines gaAm employment to 577,884, out of 
a total of 020,315 men employed in the coal mines of the 
Ignited States, the total number of meu killed was 2,097, 
Avhile 4,402 Avere injured more or less seriously. About one- 
half the men killed left AvidoAvs, and about 2,500 children 
Avere left fatherless. The death rate per 1,000 employes AAms 
3.53, Avhile for every 175,000 tons of (mal mined, one life 


Avas sacilticed. 


Coal mining entails dangers that are not common to 
other classes of mining,'for in addition to the liability to 




THE PREVENTION OF MINE ACCIDENTS. 


235 


accident from falls of rock, premature blasts, accidental 
explosion of powder or dynamite, falls of cages and other 
causes common to all kinds of nndergronnd work, the coal 
miner is always facing the danger of explosions of gas, or 
dust, or a mixture of both, and of suffocation by afterdamp 
(CO“), Avhite damj) (CO), or surphureted hydrogen (H 2 S). In 
1905, out of the above 2,097 men killed, 252, or about twelve 
per cent., were victims of gas or dust ex])losions, each of 
which killed three or more men. I am unable to state how 
many were victims of suffocation. One explosion of dust 
at the Virginia mine, in Alabama, was responsible for the 
death of 112 persons and gave that state the unenviable dis¬ 
tinction of the largest death rate per thousand, and the 
smallest tonnage for each life lost. An explosion of gas 
at the Zeigler mine, in Illinois, killed fifty men, and two ex¬ 
plosions of dust at the Hed Ash mines, in West Virginia, 
counted twentv-four victims. 

It is true that in some cases accidents are unavoidable, 
and it is just as true that in many cases the accidents could 
have been prevented if proper ])recautions had been taken 
by the operators or their agents, but it is also true, unhap¬ 
pily, that in the probable majority of cases the fault lay in 
the carelessness of the men themselves or of their fellow 
employes. In Pennsylvania, for instance, out, of thirteen 
accidents in 1905 which resulted in the death of more than 
one person each, the re])orts of the investigations into the 
causes placed the responsibility in eight cases upon the 
victims or their felloAV workmen, two Avere classed as un¬ 
avoidable, and.in two cases the responsibility Avas not fixed. 
One Avhich Avas due to the breaking of the hoisting rope 
might haA^e been aA^oided had the safety. clutches been in 
proper order, but I do not knoAV Avhether the company Avas 
lield responsible, or not. It appears, hoAvever, that out of 
eleven avoidable accidents the responsibility in eight cases 
Avas placed, rightly or AVi'ongly, upon the Avorkmen. It 
seems next to impossible to impress upon some miners the 


hazardous nature of their employment, and to make them 
take the simplest precautions to avoid accident. They are 
in danger all the time. It is such a part of their lives that 
theA" groAA^ callous to it and, therefore, careless. A naked 
lam]) on the ca]) or in the hand of a miner may ignite a 
small pocket of gas Avhich Avill, in turn, start a train of ex- 
])losions of dust and gas that Avill Avreck the mine and sacri¬ 
fice a hundred or more lives. I luiA^e seen a miner, after luiA^- 
ing cautioned another Avorkman not to go into the head of 
a gangAvay just opening up, as gas Avas there and the ventil- 


286 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


ation was not carried forward, lift his naked lamp nearly 
to the roof, not twenty feet away from the ^hlangerous^’ 
spot, to see if there were gas enough np there to explode. 
The only thing that prevented me from rnnning away was 
the knowledge that if the gas^did explode, the force of the 
explosion Avonld traA^el about 10,000 times as fast as 1 could, 
and that I should only be laughed at if nothing happened. 

Improperly placed or carelessly tamped blasting 
charges, which result in “windy’’ or ^^blown-out” shots, are 
responsible for a large number of fatal accidents. A Avindy 
shot is apt to stir up an explosiA-e mixture of dust and air 
AAdiich, ignited by the dame, aauII result in a disastrous ex¬ 
plosion. The explosion at the Virginia mine, in Alabama, 
the worst one recorded in 1905, AAms due to this cause. 

That the responsibility for accidents in coal mines is 
placed (officially, at least) upon the AAmrkers rather than 
upon the operators, is perhaps not AAuthout reason. It is not 
an altogether unselfish inotiA^e that prompts the owners of 
property to protect it, even if they had no thought for their 
vun])loyes. And my observation has been that they are not 
careless of the safety of their men. It is a self-evident prop¬ 
osition that owners of mines will endeaAmr to prevent acci¬ 
dents Avhich, in addition to the sacrifice of lives, may mean 
the loss of thousands of dollars in jiroperty. 

If there is any place on or in the earth Avhere a military 
type of discipline should be enforced, it is in coal mines, 
])articularly deep and gaseous ones, but unfortunately the 
laAvs in this country are lax in many particulars, and at¬ 
tempts to discipline employes for disregard of rules estab¬ 
lished by operators themseha^s for the protection of lives 
and property, are apt to result in strikes, AAdiich may lay 
^he mine idle for Aveeks, or eA^en months. It seems to me 
that there is a chance here for a campaign of education that 
it would be well for this organization to consider. 

It is rather a reflection on our boasted progress in ciA^- 
ilization that this, the greatest mining country in the Avorld, 
furnishes the worst record for the number of accidents as 
compared with the number of men employed. A recent edi¬ 
torial in Alines and Minerals,” published in Scranton, 
Pennsylvania, and Avhich stands high as a reliable and con¬ 
servative periodical, states that in England in 1905 the 
death rate per thousand Avas only 1.85, as compared Avith 
3.53 for the coal mines of the United States. 

We have in the past few years forged ra])idly ahead of 
Great Britain as a coal producing country. Previous to 
1899 Great Britain produced more coal each year than Ave 


THE PREVENTION OF MINE ACCIDENTS. 


237 


did, but we took first place iu 1899, and last year (1905) our 
production of coal was almost exactly fifty per cent, more 
than Great Britain’s. But while we have shown this great 
material progress, we have accomplished it at a sacrifice 
of liunian life that puts us in an unenviable position when 
compared with other countries. In Belgium, where there 
are some of the deepest coal mine workings in continental 
Europe, and where the mines are of tlie most dangerous 
character, as far as containing explosive gases is concerned, 
the death rate is barely one-third of what it is in this 
countrv. 

In connection with this I should like to call attention 


to what looks like something of an awakening of interest 
in this very important subject. There is to be held in the 
city of New York, from January 28th to February 9, 1907, 
inclusive, an exposition of devices for safeguarding life and 
limb, and for preventing accidents in mines and in other 
industrial enterprises. This exposition is to be lield under 
the auspices of the American Institute of Social Service at 
the Museum of Natural History, in New York City. Among 
the groups of exhibits to be shown at this time are the fol¬ 
lowing: 

First aid to the injured. Mining and quarrying; devices 
in use on stone crushing machinery, etc.; storing of explos¬ 
ives. Metal industry, safety devices for metal working 
machinery. Safety appliances for elevators and hoisting 
apparatus models. Personal equipment of workmen; pro¬ 
tective spectacles, respirators, suits, etc. Ventilation,* re¬ 
ports of labor departments; industrial arbitration courts, 
etc. 


It is something of a reflection upon us when we consider 
that we are nearly twenty years (eighteen, to be exact) be¬ 
hind the times in making an exposition of this character. 
In 1889 such an exposition was held in Germany, and an¬ 
other in 1893 was held at Amsterdam, and there have been 
several other similar expositions in continental Europe and 
in Canada. Museums of securitv have been established at 
Vienna in 1890, at Amsterdam in 1893, and others later 
in Munich, Berlin, Paris, and even in Eussia. 

In the issne of ^^Mines and Minerals,” previously re¬ 
ferred to, the attention of the American Mining Congress 
is called to this important matter, and I consider it a priv¬ 
ilege to second and endorse the suggestion made by the edi¬ 
tor of that paper. I think that the ex])osition in New York 
will be one of exceeding interest, and I trust that a number 
of the members of this Congress will be able to be present. 


Copper Deposits of Washington 


BY HOIJ. ALBERl W. McINTYRE, EVERETT, WASHINGTON. 

^^TLie Cascade chain of mountains forms tlie central di¬ 
vide of the state of Washington. The I'ocks are granites, 
hanked by paleozoic, mesozoic and metamorphic strata, and 
are niuch like the Sierras of California. They were up- 
heaved in large jjart before the Cretaceous, and, since then, 
other movements have occurred. There are vast develop¬ 
ments of igneous rocks, forming, as at Mount Itainier, some 
of the highest American peaks. West of the Cascade range 
is a great valley, formerly marking a drainage system, but 
now covered, partially, by glacial drifts, and largely by the 
waters of Ihiget Sound. The Glacial deiiosits are enormous, 
and render the problem of working out the geology A^ery 
dihicult. Some glaciers remain on the heights, even to the 
present day. West of the Puget Sound basin is the northern 
extension of the coast range, locally knoAVU as the Olympics, 
and largely Cretaceous and Tertiary strata.”* 

^‘Tliis is an area of granite, traversed by late eruptives, 
and suggests geological condicions known to be favorable 
to copjier deposits elsewhere, as at Butte.”** 

Prof. Milnor Ivoberts, dean of the School of Mines of 
the UnAersity of Washington, saA^s: ^d)n the Avestern slope 
of the Cascade mountains in Washington in the region 
Avhere the Great Northern railroad crosses the Cascade 
range, is a belt, about fifty miles in length and several 
miles in Avidth, extending both nortliAvest and southeast of 
the railroad in Avhich A’^eins bearing copper (chietiy), gold 
and silver are numerous.” 

'this region, so far as the outside world is concerned, is 
almost a terra incognita, many things liaA ing combined to 
deter discoA^ery and deA eloi)nunit of mineral deposits. The 
prospector, on the Pacitic coast, looked, and still looks, for 
gold placers, next, gold-bearing cpiartz. He Avas not in the 
position to profit by the discovery of copper-bearing veins 
or deposits, even if he had recognized them. They Avere sim¬ 
ply ^^base” and Avortliless to him. An illustration is to be 
found in the Coi)])er 'Mountain lode in Shasta county, Cali* 
foruia, Avhich Avas knoAvn to prospectors for many years be- 


*Kemp’s Ore Deposits of United States and Canada. 

**Mining and Scientific Press No. 2406. 






/ 


COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 239 


fore it was suspected to contain lari»;e and rich copper de¬ 
posits. If the prospector liad known that there were copper 
deposits beneath these unprofitable cap])ings it Avonld have 
made no difference to liini. Transportation was impossible 
without trunk lines, eitiier to bring out tlie ores or take in 
the necessary metallurgical plant. The almost impenetra¬ 
ble forests covering the slopes of the Cascade mountains, 
render pros])ecting extremely difficult and add greatly to 
the work of prospecting the liigher x)eaks and ridges of the 
granite core, which can be rea(died only by trails cut, at 
heavy expense, through the timber and underbrusli, tropical 
in their d(uisity. Where some of the more accessible veins 
were discovered, often in the edge of the belt, cajiital to de- 
v(d()p, in aiaounts adequate to the purpose, were not obtain¬ 
able, with the result tliat mere attempts were made with 
trifling capital, and often Avith management that woidd 
liaAm failed with any capital, hoAA''ever great. The local 
community, Avithout knoAvledge of mining or mineral re- 
-sources, being farmers and loggers, could not be a])i)ealed 
to successfully for oa en the little capital in its possession, 
and Avhich Avas largely dissipated during the stringent 
times of a dozen years ago. Without capital, often Avithout 
tlie sym])athy even of those engaged in other industries 
about them, the feAV who appreciated someAvhat the char¬ 
acter and value of the mineral resources of this region and 
stroAm to utilize them, struggled against a situation lhat 
Avonld have discouraged anyone not absolutely convinced 
of the existence of copper deposits worth eA^ery effort and 
sacrifice to deA^elop aiid market. The mining stock sharper 
added his brilliant efforts to the snm total of drawbacks. 

The discovery of gold in the Klondike SAvept practically 
every miner and prospector of the Cascades into the 


^ffrozen’^ north and only recently has something like a reac¬ 
tion set in that permits attention to be called to nearby 
resources of even greater permanent value. 

Unfortunately for the development of the copper belt, 
as Avell as the valuable gold veins in the Mount Baker and 
Slate Creek regions, the Monte Cristo arsenic-gold district 
became identified Avith and regarded as typical of the whole 
Cascade range and of the Avhole state. As a gold-arsenic 
producer, the district has no place here, bnt the effect of its 
geological.character and its experiences, upon the develop¬ 
ment of the copper deposits, justify au attempt to differen¬ 
tiate and distinguish briefly the latter from the former. 

So far as the Avriter is aware, the Monte Cristo mining 
district is the only one in the Cascades specially reported 


240 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


the United States Geological Survey. J. E. Spurr’s re¬ 
port is able, careful and comprehensive, so far as informa¬ 
tion was available at the time it was made. He distinctly 
avowed his limitations resulting from insufficient data, and 
conscientiously distinguished between fact and fancy. His 
statement concerning the cha|;‘acter of the veins under con¬ 
sideration, that they were not ^^true fissure veins,’’ but min 
eralized joints, was interpreted, against his caution, into a 
declaration, that there were no ^drue fissure veins” in the 
Cascades. Mr. ^purr’s statement, while guarded, that the 
data at hand indicated, that as the joints were more open 
to the entrance of mineral-bearing solutions, at or near the 
surface, and tighter below, the ore bodies either did, or 
could be expected to ^^pincli out” at depth. These two 
statements, were interpreted to mean that in the Cascades 
the veins and the ores ^ffiid not go down.” He stated his 
opinion to be that the ores v,-ere the result of deposition 
from descending waters^ None of these statements nor the 
interpretation placed upon them, Avould have been remem¬ 
bered but for the fact that the ^lonte Cristo district, for 
Avhatever cause, seemed to belie the name. Not unnatur¬ 
ally, it Avas taken as a type and sample of the Avhole Cas¬ 
cade range, and its apparent failure Avas regarded as a dem¬ 
onstration of the Auiluelessness in a mineral way oftheAvhole 
state of Washington, although the district was and is pe¬ 
culiar here, as it is peculiar in the rest of the United States, 
for the largest element of value in the ores is arsenic. 

The failure in the past at Monte Cristo is claimed, Avith 
good evidence, to be due to high freight and treatment 


charges, to excesshmly Avasteful methods of mining, of 
transporting the ores from mine to concentrator and rail¬ 
road, and of concentration, and the failure of the mine OAvn- 
ers to receive anA^ return Avhatever for the arsenic, AA^hich 
Avas the chief value in the ore. It is only fair to state that 
prior to 1901 the smelter did not saAm the arsenic, of Avhich 
there Avas, during the period Avhen it Avas saved, an aA",erage 
value of |9.84 per ton of ore or concentrates, according, to 
the United States Geological Siiiwey report. Fairly relia¬ 
ble data give the average treatment charge before the shut- 
do Avn as |5.00. Freight about fl.OO. These figures are for 
independent shippers. Some figures given are f2.50 freight 
and |T.OO treatment charge. The gold paid for averaged 
|9.50 per ton, leaving some 50 cents margin for mining and 
transportation to the railroad. There is evidence that the 
]Monte Cristo Mining Company paid |1.50 to |1.25 freight 
and a |3,00 smelter charge, The concentrator’s custom 


COPPER DEPOSITS'OF WASHING®0>N.- 


241 


ciiarge is given as fl.OO a ton. The cos^t of mining is not 
given. There was a mining company, a tramming company 
and a concentration company, as I learn ominquiry, besides 
the railroad company and smelting company. The loss in 
concentration is said to have been from 25 per cent, to 40 
per cent, and even more. 

In spite of these discouragements, several owners have 
been steadily developing during the last three or four years, 
and the workings have attained considerable depth. In one 
instance, in 1905, they drifted from a crosscut tunnel 400 
feet below the old workings, and 700 feet below the surface, 
encountering an ore body eleven feet wide of shipping ore. 

Mr. William E. Sutton, formerly superintendent of the 
Monte Cristo mine, whose name occurs frequently in ]\lr. 
Spurr’s report, informs me tliat in the ^‘Justice,” formerly 
known as the ^^Golden Chords’ the tunnel is more than 
1,000 feet, is 400 feet lower than the fornier lowest 
workings, and is practically the same ore that was mined 
from the old Monte Cristo, arsenopyrite, the values some¬ 
what better, and ore bodies about the same size. Another 
company has two miles of underground work, one qiortion 
of which is a crosscut tunnel 1,800 feet long, which inter¬ 
cepts three different veins, into which drifts have, been 
driven into good ore in large bodies. lu’another ^‘property-’ 
the tunnel is in the vein 4,000 feet below the surface, in ore. 
At the present time there is great activity at Monte Cristo. 
The Wilmans, the original discoverers and developers of 
this camp, are in ore 1,000 feet below the'surface and 4,000 
feet in, with the pay streak wider than it was at the surface 
and the values higher. Thev are now activelv at work, as 
are also others, preparing for ore shipments, on a large 
scale. The great, old, rotten concentrator that has been 
idle for years, and other equipment, are being replaced and 
renovated. Everybody is at work, both in preparation and 
in getting out ore. The cause of the actiGty, from reliable 
information on the ground, is that a contract or arrange¬ 
ment has been made or is about to be made with the smelter 
to treat the ore at f5.00, smelter to pay freight, and the 
smelter to pay |14.00 for the arsenic in the average ore, 
which, added to the |9.50 in gold, makes f23.50, less i?5.00 
total charge, or fl8.50 for the same ore which returned only 
50 cents margin out of which to pay mining and transpor¬ 
tation to the railroad. 

The writer, is reliably informed that competent engi- 
,neers insist that the great cppcentrator was. built Ayren^ 
end up hnd had other serious, if not fatal, defects^ some of 


242 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


them common to early coiiceiitratinij:,' macliiiiery. Ihnver 
was fiiriiislied at large expense of fuel, with abundant 
water power those at hand. It must be remembered that 
these ore bodies were not on the large scale of coi^per mines 
and that the ores are low grade, especially when leaving out 
arsenic, and require economical methods to get a margin of 
profit. It is hard to understand why such tremendons ex¬ 
penditures on the railroad (nearly f4,00(),000) and on the 
plant were made for so comparatiyely small a mine; and 
wlnq obviously wasteful methods were continued for so 
long a time and why they were not changed and Avhy the 
shut-down to stop losses did not occur many years sooner. 

Mr. Sam Silverman, well-known miner and smelter- 
man of southeast Alaska, has recently taken hold of the 
Pride, Mystery and Golden Chord with the Wilmans broth¬ 
ers, after thorough examination by himself and a number 
of mining and metallurgical engineers. Everything is be¬ 
ing changed, new methods being adopted, Avater poAver to 
be used, and an arsenic plant to be erected unless the 
smelter pays for the arsenic, Avhich is said to be worth |15.00 
per ton of ore, on account of the present high price of lliat 
metal. Mr. SilA^erman is in the actiA^e management. 

After the notable failure of the Pride of the Mountains 
and the MA^stery under the old oAviiership, the re-]mrchase 
and continued operations by the Wilmans brothers, and the 
investment and active taking hold by AIi'. Sam Silverman, a 
practical, capable man, Avell aAvare of the history of Monte 
Cristo, with all the signs of failure Avritten large all over 
the camp Avheu he made his examination Avitli other compe¬ 
tent men, are significant, and the outcome Avill be Avatched 
Avith interest. 

Not doubting Mr. SpurPs conclusion that there are no 
^brue fissure A^eins’^ at Monte Cristo, only mineralized 
joints, which seem, hoAvever, to ansAver the purpose of con¬ 
taining ore bodies fairly Avell, it is not proper to assume, nor 
does Mr. Spurr state that tlieie are no true fissures in the 
Cascades. 

Mr. Spurr mentions the absence of hot and of other as¬ 
cending springs as indicating that ore deposition must 
have resulted from descending Avaters. 

In the copper region mentioned, Avhich lies Avesterly 
from Monte Cristo, there are hot springs at Madison, Hot 
Springs, in King county, about six miles Avest of the Cas¬ 
cade tunnel on the Great Northern raihvay; at Green River 
Hot Springs, King county, tAvelve miles west of Stampede 
tunnel on the Northern Pacific raihvay; and hot springs 



COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 


243 


near the headwaters of the {Snoqiialmie and at the head of 
Foss river in King county, Copper lake is much warmer than 
its neighbors, apparently owing to hot springs beneath. 
Near Berlin, on the Great Northern railway, in King 
county, there is a locally noted soda spring, and on the 
north fork of the ►r^kykomish river, above Galena, in Snoho¬ 
mish county, are important mineral springs, and near 
Mount St. Helena, in Cowlitz county, near Skamania 
county, are strong soda springs. 

As the character of the veins is important, I may be 
pardoned for illnstratiug the fact that there are true fis¬ 
sures, or as Mr. Si^iirr designates tliem in the report, ‘drne 
fissure veins,’’ in abundance, in the Cascades, as well as 
elsewhere in the state of Washington. The Apex mine, in 
King county, on Money creek, has about 5,000 feet'of de¬ 
velopment, as I am informed by Mr. Abner Giffin, presi¬ 
dent of the owning corporation. The ore is arsenopyrite, 
the same as that of Monte Cristo, carrying from |35.00 to 
$50.00, chiefly in gold and silver, not allowing for arsenic. 
The No. 5 tunnel is the fifth level and gives 2,500 feet of 
back above it. No. 4 is about 2,000 feet in and above 1,000 
feet perpendicular. The ore at this point is the same in 
quality and much greater in quantity tlian 700 feet higher 
up. The vein is four feet wide at surface, with 8-inch pay 
streak of $35 to $50 ore. A'arions levels liave been run on 
this vein, which is thronghont of the same Avidth, Avith clean 
granite walls, the pay streak increasing Avitli depth until 
on the loAvest level it is about twenty inches Avith the same 
values. This is a shipinug and paying mine and is uoav 
building six miles of narrow gauge railroad to reach the 
Great Northern. 

The Copper, Bell lode, in Snohomish county, five miles 
from Index, is a true fissure. Mr. V. V. Clark, manager, 
reports that the Avails are hornblende-biotite granite, the 
vein is ten to tAvelve feet wide. That a level has been run 
2,650 feet in the vein to a point which is 1,450 feet beloAV the 
surface, the A^ein continuing to be of the same Avidth, except 
that Avhere the ore chutes or pipes occur, the mineralization 
reaches, into the Avails, making one ore chute 65x35 feet. 

The Bonanza Queen, at Silverton, Snohomish county, 
is sixty feet AAude at the surface. A crosscut tunnel 1,090 
feet long cuts the vein vertically 1,000 feet beloAV. At this 
])oint the vein, Avith AAmll-defined Avails, is 134 feet Avide. On 
the surface from the highest point, 3,600 feet above sea kwel 
to the loAvest point, 2,100 feet above sea level, along the vein, 
a ulacial stream has Avashed a deep gorge, exposing the 


244 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


walls and the vein contents, on one side of the ridge for a 
distance of 4,000 feet. On the other side of the ridge, for 
3,000 feet, the vein is exposed at numerous points, and tlie 
tunnel has cut it in the middle of the hill as stated. 

These are the typical veins of this region, not the Monte 
Cristo joints. 

There is more being done now in the state of Washing¬ 
ton, in the mining Avay, than ever before and nothing is be¬ 
ing said about it. The time and limits of this paper Avill not 
permit more than mention of gold camps in the Slate Creek, 

' Mount Baker and BleAvett districts, where, in several well 
marked instances, active production is going on and the out¬ 
look is very promising. 

The quiet, steady Avork mentioned is bringing very close 
to the point of production a very considerable number of 
extremely desirable copper deposits Avhich Avill soon take 
on the maturer and more attractiA^e title of mines. 

Some dozen or more are actually mined noAAq having 
large ore bodies developed, ^‘ore in sight,’^ and require only 
equipment or transportation, which in a number of in¬ 
stances, are being supplied. In one instance a railroad 
tAventy-five miles long is being constructed in a preciiiitous 
mountain region by the company oAvning the mine, sixteen 
miles of the mountain end of tlie grade being completed.' 
A large amount of development work has been done in this 
case, many hundreds of feet of it, all in ore. The railroad’s 
first use Avill be to take in a ]>lant to treat the ore. Only 
assured large bodies of paying ore Avould justify such expen¬ 
ditures. 

In the absence of excitement, and when capital is so 
much engaged elseAvhere, it is obvious that only those Iuia- 
ing undoubted merit Avill be developed and equipped. The 
region indicated above should properly be extended so as to 
include the many large copper deposits partly deA^eloped in 
Chelan, Okanogan, Ferry and SteA^ens counties and in Ska¬ 
mania and LeAAus counties. In fact, the Washington copper 
deposits blend, by the course indicated, into those of the 
boundary districts of British Columbia, Avhere the Granby 
and others are now producing copper so abundantly. The 
difference, Avhere there is a difference, is that the natural 
shoAving and development, considerable in several iii' 
stances, justify the statement that the higher grade copper 
deposits are those of the Central Cascade portion of the 
copper belt. 

An important feature in the operation of the mines Avill 
be the water poAver of this region. Prof. Henry Landes, 



COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 


245 


^rare geologist of Wasliington, lias stated that the water 
power in the Cascades is imicpie. ^‘If every atom of fuel, 
coal or wood, were remoyed, every wheel that could jiossibly 
ever be needed, whether for traiisportafiou, agriculture, 
manufacture or mine, in this whole region, could be turned 
by water, with an abundance to spare/’ ' ' 

In mining, fuel is one of the most important items of 
cost. The absolute elimination of this expense means a ma¬ 
terial lessening of the cost of mine products, bringing very 
low grade ores into the horizon of commercial value and in¬ 
creasing the iirofits of high grade. 

The abundance of timber for all pur])oses, the position 
of the ores admitting operation for a long time, by tunnel, 
and the ever present water power combine to make ideal, 
economic conditions. 

The copper belt, first mentioned, begins among the 
headwaters of the Foss river, which flows north; of the 
Snoqualmie, which flows southwest; and the Ole Elum, flow¬ 
ing southeast, about latitude 47 degrees, 30 minutes, and 
longitude 121 degrees, 15 minutes. The belt extends 
through the adjoining portion of King count}’, north-north¬ 
westerly, into and through Snohomish county, and seems 
to be a part of a belt or trend which appears on the coast 
and in the Islands of British Columbia, in Prince of ^Vales 
and other islands of southeastern Alaska and on Copper 
river, Alaska. South of this belt, in the Cascades,'in Wash¬ 
ington, is a knoAvn copper region which 1 will describe later. 
It is obviously impossible to do more in this paper than to 
take up, very briefly, a few typical copper deposits in the 
state of Washington; in no case reflecting upon those not 
selected. I may remark that in general the region is char¬ 
acterized by strong, wide veins, usually in granite, occasion¬ 
ally in diorite or slate-dioiite contact, with abundance of 
igneous dikes both acid and basic. In the southeast portion 
of the belt, in King county, the Coast range is from 3,000 
feet to 6,000 feet in height and the summits have been swept 
clean by glaciers, in former times. The structure and vein 
systems exposed, at one ])oint, on the surface may often be 
traced with accuracy long distances. (Milnor Boberts.) In 
Snohomish countv the belt is in the lower hills of the Cas- 
cades, where heavy forests cover the ]dateaus, slopes and 
valleys, and only occ-asionally are veins easily traced, with¬ 
out work. There are, however, many instances of veins 
made plainly visible by erosion. 

It has been difficult to secure accurate data, in some 
instances, but the writer has taken pains to avoid error, as 


246 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


far as possible, and made use of no information not entirely 
reliable. 

I shall now take up a few types for, as stated, it is not 
within the purpose or scope of this paper to make a cata¬ 
logue of the copper deposits of Washington, but merely to 
call attention to their existence. 

I shall begin with the first one I became acquainted 
with, after a difficult climb over a glacier. On the high di¬ 
vide between the east fork of the Foss river and the middle 
fork of the Snoqnaline, at an elevation of 5,800 feet above 
sea level, in a hornblende-biotite-granite country, the fiat 
surface of an ore shoot on the Dutch Miller shows as plainly 
as a strip of carpet, 18 feet wide and about 175 feet long, 
12 feet of the width is a solid chalcopyrite, somewhat mixed 
with hematite and slight quantities of zinc. The other six 
feet is composed of about half and half chalcopyrite and 
quartz. Evidently part of the original vein above the pres¬ 
ent surface had been carried ipto the canon below by glacial 
action. Several thousand tons of this ore has since been 
mined and is now awaiting transportation facilities, which 
are being supplied by a railroad, for six and one-half miles 
of which the grade has been completed through a rough val¬ 
ley, and an aerial tram of five and one-half miles, the con¬ 
tract for whicli has been let as I have been informed by a 
representative of the Trenton Iron Company. 

Mr. 0. E. Crane writes me that a careful sampling of 
all the ore taken out (several thousand tons) gives 10 i^er 
cent, copper, 8 ounces silver, trace of gold, 28 per cent, iron, 
28 per cent, sulphur, 3 per cent, zinc, and I believe it from 
considerable knowledge of the ores. The open-cut and shaft 
work done in taking out this ore shows the vein to have well- 
defined walls of granite. The bottom of the shaft, some 
sixty feet deep, is in ore. At points along the surface of 
these veins, where the erosion has not removed the capping, 
is oxidized iron ore mingled with hornblende and quartz. 
The vein can be traced by the iron stain until it disappears 
under a glacier. 

About 6,000 feet from the ore shoot described, following 
the gossan, an opening on the Lucky Boy has been made 
through the thin cap, disclosing chalcopyrite ore, in a vein 
of about tlie same width. No great amount of work has 
been done here, the object being to prospect, not to oi)e]'ate, 
at this point. This is all in an exceedingly rough and pre¬ 
cipitous region. About two miles further in the same gen¬ 
eral direction, northwest, the Pedro ledge is stated to be 
more than 100 feet wide and the showing is said bv Mr. <1 B. 
Blodgett of Seattle to be greater than that of the Dutch 





247 


COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 

1 

Miller, walls of the same granite, iron capping with quartz 
pockets which are lined Avith crystals of quartz and iron 
cubes. The ore is chalco])yrite and bornite containing gray 
copper, gold and silver, Avith some bismuth and antimony, 
assays sIioav high Amines in gold, silver and copper. This 
ledge can be traced more than tAvo miles and leads to the 
Copper Chief and Eureka veins and others of the Foss river 
group. At the head of the Avest fork of Foss riAmr the Cop¬ 
per Chief is by measurement 189 feet Avide at the Malachite 
lake end and still Avider on the Miller river end, Avhere it is 
coAmred by talus, being plainly traceable for more tlian 
4,000 feet. It has the same iron cap, hematite, limonite, 
hornblende and (piartz, Avhich has been penetrated- at va¬ 
rious points, disclosing remarkably pure bornite Avith gold 
and silA^er Amines, ranging from 3 ])er cent, to 54 per cent, 
copper, gold from trace to half ounce, silver 2 to 46 ounces. 
The Eureka Amin is from 50 to 100 feet Avide, of like charac¬ 
ter, nearly parallel to the larger vein, as are four others 
ranging from 10 to*20 feet in AAddth, and more than 2,000 
feet in length, i^assiug oAmr a high ridge. Here on Foss 
riAmr deAmlopment iioav takes the form of a tunnel to cross¬ 
cut all of the Amins of the group at an average depth of 1,000 
feet. Chalcopyrite of a Amry high grade has been uncovered 
in seAmral of these parallel veins. This group Avill be sup¬ 
plied Avith transportation by the railroad to the Dutch, 
Miller. To the south of the Dutch Miller vein, first men¬ 
tioned, in the Clipper group, the Amins are larger and are in 
the same granite. One tunnel 200 feet on the Amin is all in 
ore, one 750- foot crosscut tunnel is in ore at the breast. 
From Avhat are described as ore bodies containing more 
than a million tons, general sample assays of different levels 
are stated to shoAv 31 per cent, to 10 per cent, copper, about 
2.4 ounces sihmr, 2-100 gold. It is to this property that the 
tAAmuty-five miles of mountain railroad is being actually 
constructed. 

Ten miles north of Blount St. Helens, on the north fork 
of the Toutle river, on the line of Skamania and CoAvlitz 
counties, the Polar Star, as reported by Mr. E. A. Sessions 
of Portland, has a tunnel on the vein 700 feet, all in ore, 
after passing through 100 feet of iron sulphide .capping, 
country rock, hornblende-biotite-granite. Gangue iron sul¬ 
phide in an altered granite. A crosscut of 69 feet, 600 feet 
from the tunnel mouth, shoAvs 18 feet aboAm 10 per cent, cop¬ 
per, 15 feet above 15 per cent, copper, Avitli |5.00 gold, 16 
ounces silver, and 36 feet aAmrage 3 per cent, copper, Avith 
|3.00 gold and 10 ounces sihmr. This is one of several veins, 


• 248 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


one other bein«‘ ecjiial to it. Tliis is twenty-live miles from 
the railroad. The Tacoma Eastern^ iiow being bnilt, will 
come within five miles of it. 

Mr. Sessions states that the Sweden and Norway, 
nearby, has a tunnel 2,300 feet on the vein, in ore all the 
way, after 150 feet of iron sulphide capping. Chalcopyrite 
ore in crosscut of 23 feet shows 7 per cent, to 10 per cent, 
copper with gold and sihmr similar to the last described. 
There are others in the district. These are the best de¬ 
veloped. 

The Sunset in Snohomish county, north-northwest of 
the Foss river groii]), is in the same granite walls, has three 
levels at about 100 feet, 200 feet and 300 feet depths, Avhich, 
with upraises, expose, according to the report of Mr. W. E. 
Sutton, former superintendent, of the Monte Cristo mines, 
and mentioned repeatedly by Mr. J. E. Spnrr, in the Geolog¬ 
ical Eeport mentioned aboA^e, one ore body of 60,000 tons 
of bornite and chalcopyrite, sampled by him at fl2.00 per 
ton Avhen copper Avas at 13 cents, and another ore body of 
40,000 tons with |15.00, at same price of copper. Sample 
assays given in report (1) average across 17 feet of A^ein in 
adit crosscut 4-100 ounces gold, 1 ounce sih^er, 5.7 i^er cent, 
copper; (2) average in A^ein 14 feet wide, 50 feet long, adit 
crosscut, 0-10 per cent, silver, 7-10 per cent, copper; (3) sam¬ 
ple of ore taken from floor of stope, old Avorkings (aboAm), 
22 3-10 per cent, copper. 

The Bonanza Queen has been partially described ear¬ 
lier in this paper. A tunnel 1,090 feet long has caught the 
vein 1,000 feet below the surface and Avith upraises and 
levels, together with the natural outcrop, open cuts and 
quarry Avork, tAVO principal ore bodies are said to be exposed. 
One is stated to be 500 feet long, 15 feet Avide and 1,000 feet 
deep. The gangiie is pyrrhotite and pyrite. The best that 
could be done under the circumstances to get at the values 


gives from 2 per cent, to 3 per cent, copper, fl.OO gold, and 
5 ounces silver. The other ore body is said to be, measuring 
in the same crude way, 400 feet long, ,200 feet deep or high, 
69 feet in Avidtli—is a hard pyrite somewhat lower in grade 
of copper and higher in gold and silver than the last named, 
the silver increasing sometimes to 11 ounces at greatest 
depth. SylAmnite occurs frequentlymlong one wall. 

This property is reported as shipping three carloads 
.week to the Tacoma smelter; net, per ton, after paying 
;transportation and treatment charges, is stated to be from 
,$8.50 -to $23.00. 






COPPER DEPOSITS OP WASHINGTON. 


249 


llie surface ores are being handled by quarry' inetliod. 
There is lime enough in connection Avith a part of these 
ores, according to Mr. Herbert Lang of San Francisco, to 

make only 4 per cent, to 5 j)cr cent, coke necessary to reduc¬ 
tion. 


I must pass by many that deserve description here and 
shall briefly describe three groups lying beween the section 
containing the foregoing and the Boundary district, British 
Columbia. 


The Belcher mine, about twelve miles northeast of Ke- 
public and six miles from Washington & Great Northern 
raihvay, is reported to have 3,400 feet of tunnel and winze. 

14epth of vein, 385 feet. 

Width of vein 80 feet, all ore. 

Width of small vein, 28 feet, all ore. 

Ore is pyrite (gold bearing) to depth of 1,808 feet below 
Avhich it changes to chalcopyrite carrjdng 4 per cent, copper, 
with 30 to 50 per cent, excess of iron over the silica, which 
varies from 3 per cent, to 10 per cent, silica. 

Much of their ore runs |12.00 gold and |8.00 copper, 
Avitli no silver. The smelters pay a premium on this ore 
for all excess of iron over silica. 

Their railroad to the Great Northern branch will be 
completed this Aveek, a distance of nine miles, Avhen they ex¬ 
pect to begin shipments of 30(» tons per day. Capacity of 
railroad is 4,000 tons per day. 

mine is about midAvay betAveen Cpnconnully and 
Loomis on an ore zone Avhich is traced for seA eral miles. . 

It is an immense Ioav grade sulphide copper ore in dio- 
rite, Avith iron, but very little gold or silA^er. The ore zone 
on the Q. S. is noAv said to be 1,000 feet Avide. Only one 
wall has been found which is granite. Near the surface the 
ore is silicious, but loAA^er the silica is replaced, to a degree, 
by copper and there is an excess of iron over silica. 

Thev strike small lenses of good grade, but as vet no 
very large lense of sufficient grade to operate alone. In 
lower levels they expect higher grade. 

TheA' have a tunnel in 1,000 feet, giving a depth of 
1,000 feet, and Avill run another, giving an additional 1,000 
feet. Much of their ore noAv is better than the Granby ore. 


Coiwer iWoriel Extension. 

On Palmer mountain, near Loomis, at a depth of 200 
feet, they have 20 feet of ore running 48 per cent, iron, 4 per 
cent (M)])])ei', (J jier cent, silicai. The Granby smelter pays 
them a bonus of |1.40 per ton for this ore. In addition to 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


250 

« 

xbove, they have a large amount of ore running li per cent, 
cojipei'. 

This very inadequate description certainly indicates 
the presence of copper deposits, of magnitude and value, 
which the owners feel that they have been justilied in de¬ 
veloping. at, hoAvever, great effort, and from which they 
expect, with confidence, to reap the reward for their sacra- 
fice, their pluck and their faith 



Recent Litigation Involving Questions of Alleged Damage 
from Tailings, Tailings Waters and Smelter Fumes. 


BY. PROF. F. W. TRAPHAGEN. 

Two of the most important cases in the history of liti¬ 
gation between the agricultural and mining interests of 
our country have recently come up for hearing before the 
United States court in tlie state of Montana. 

Tlie suits are: That brought by Hugh Magone against 
tlie Colorado Smelting and Mining Company and others 
(the ^^others'^ being the Golusa-Parrot Mining and Smelting 
Company, the Butte and Boston Consolidated Mining Com¬ 
pany, the Parrot Silver and Copper Company, the Montana 
Ore Purchasing Company, and the Anaconda Copper Min¬ 
ing Company); the other suit, now pending, was brought 
by Fred J. Bliss against the Anaconda Copper Mining Com¬ 
pany and the Washoe Copper Mining Company. 

As the principles involved are so different, it will be 
best to consider each of these suits separately. 

The ^lagone suit was brought against the allied com¬ 
panies for alleged damage to land and crops through the 
action of tailings and tailings waters, and damages were 
asked in the sum of'twenty thousand dollars (.f20,000), to¬ 
gether with a prayer for a permanent injunction against 
the operations of all the smelters. This suit is especially 
interesting as one in which (dd time enemies were co-de¬ 
fendants, and when the Clark interests, the Heinze interests 
and the Amalgamated interests were all harmoniously 
working together toward a common end. 

The plaintiff claimed, in this suit, that not only were his 
crops and land destroyed, but his sheep, of Avhich he had a 
considerable number, were poisoned by the tailings waters. 
Numerous experts were called upon for analyses of the 
water—that of Silver Bow creek, which flows through Butte 
and which carries a large portion of slimes from the con¬ 
centrators. 

Analyses were made, also, of the various dumps of 
mines and smelters, and the attempt was made to show Hiat 
the cause of the alleged damage was readily accounted for 
by tlie (‘hemical analyses oFthe water and the tailings. 

The defense was based on the fact that the water car¬ 
ried bare traces of possible poisonous salts in solution, and 



252 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


that more particularly, the cause for lessened crops could 
be found in the character of the soil, which was shown to be 
a black alkali with considerable white alkali present. In 
addition to this it was shown that the land was not prop¬ 
erly farmed and had not been put in condition for proper 
irrigation. 

An interesting phase of this case was the discussion 
arising from the claim of the defense that even were cop- 
])er sulphate present in the irrigation'water, it would be at 
once rendered insoluble by reaction with the sodium car¬ 
bonate of the black alkali soil. The experts for the plaintiff 
maintained that, inasmuch as copper sulphate was soluble 
in excess of sodium carbonate, the co])])er would redissolve 
and becotoe active again. Actual tests upon this point, us¬ 
ing the Magone ranch soil, showed that copper was ren¬ 
dered insoluble dll the soil in question and that it did not 
redissolve. 

When it is remembered that only scduble compounds 
act upon plant life, and that excess of copper in solution is 
conceded to be poisonous to plants, the importance of this 
point will be appreciated. ^ 

The defense also brought in photographs illustrating 
many experiments with soluble co])])er, zinc, arsenic, anti¬ 
mony and other salts to determine tlieir effects uyion plants 
grown in ty])ical arid soils. These results were very strik¬ 
ing in many respects, it being shown that amounts in excess 
of those shown to be present in any of the irrigation waters 
of the state, were without harmful effects upon plant life. 

Of the five experts employed by the ])laintiff, not one 
appeared in person before the master hearing the case, but 
all submitted their testimony by deposition, which, of 
course, made .satisfactory cross-examination im])ossible. 

After a hearing lasting about six months, the master- 
in-chancerv took the case under advisement and some 
months later announced his findings. 

The injunction asked for was refused on the principle 
of the ‘^greatest good to the greatest number,’’ but damages 
were assessed against the five defendants in the total sum 
of about seventeen hundred dollars (|l,Tfib). As no one of 
the defendants was assessed as much as five hundred dol¬ 
lars (f500), it is iirobable that ea(di side will have to pay 
its own costs, which, as can be easily seen, will be, consid¬ 
erable. , i ‘ 

The judge has not yet announced his decision, but it= 
is generally believed that he will endorse the action of the 
master. 


LITIGATION INVOLVING QUESTIONS OF DAMAGE. 


253 


Tlie Bliss suit, or as it is more eommoiily known, tlie 
“Smoke’’ suit, is, I tliink, one of the most extensive suits, 
from many points of atoav, that has ever been lieard. 

Bniiiiiiio- continnonsly, with but two short intermis¬ 
sions, since the 25tli day of January, there have already 
been placed in the record about sixteen thousand pages of 
fraiiscrijit; and this is being added to at the rate of about 
seven hundred pages a week, with jirobably tAvelve more 


weeks still to follow. 

This suit is radically different 
heard in Montana in that it involves 


from previous suits 
only the question of 


smelter fumes and does not touch upon the effect of tailings 
or tailings waters. The suit is brought for a perpetual in¬ 
junction, and, while conducted in the name of Fred J. Bliss, 
a non-resident land holder, is really being conducted and 
supported by a farmers’ association consisting of one nmi- 
dred and seven Deer Lodge Yalley farmers, who have agreed 
to levies based upon the assessed value of their property for 
the supplies of the ^^sinews of war” to carry on the suit. 

These farmers in an official letter to defendants, placed 
their total damages at about two million three hundred 
thousand dollars and this amount was scaled down by one 
of their committees to one and three-quarter million dol¬ 
lars. This involved title to the damaged property passing 
to the defendants and it was further stipulated that some 
of the property might be repurchased by the farmers. 

The Anaconda Copper Alining Company pays more 
than 50 per cent, of the taxes of Deer Lodge county in 
which the smelter is located. This company and its asso¬ 
ciates bear about one-third of the taxes of Silver Bow 
county, in which the mines are located, and are the principal 
taxpayers in nearly all the other counties of the state, 
where lumbering, coal mining and coking, and other inter¬ 
ests connected with mining and smelting are involved. To 


sav that the welfare of the whole state of Montana Avas in- 
timately associated with the prosperity of this company 
would be but stating the simple truth. In the testimony of 
the general manager of the smelter, Mr. E. P. ^latheAvson, 
the folloAving figures Avere given: 

' The output in copper, silver and gold Avas 



Copper, 

Silver, 

Gold, 

In 

Lbs. 

Oz. 

Oz. 

1902 . 

. 82,992,361 

3,368,133 

15,027 

1903 . 

. 109,726,420 

5,190,879 

31,183 

1904 .;. 

. 138,078,499 

6,481,318 

46,344 

1905 . 

. 165,505,144 

7,046,485 

49,685 

1906 (first six months). 

. 94,244,911 

3,811,735 

22,567 







254 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


The smelter employs 2,100 men, and tliere lias been 
spent .1fT,00T,324 for labor, |4,393,455 for coal, |4,012,000 for 
coke, 1740,047 for lime rock, Jifl,. 316,020 for machinery, $53,- 
896 for lumber and $4,480,813 for freight. About nine thou¬ 
sand tons of ore are treated daily, and the monthly output 
of copper is clo^^e to 17,000,000 pounds. 

That the situation may be better understood, it is nec¬ 
essary to refer to conditions some three years ago, just 
after the new smelter began operations. Indhidual stacks 
were proAuded for each of the different units of the great 
plant, so that, instead of the one great stack Avliich, at pres¬ 
ent, handles all the smoke, there Avere separate stacks for 
the blast furnaces, for the reA^erberatories, for the conver¬ 
ters and for the roasting furnaces. 

These stacks were placed at the Amrious buildings and 
Avere about tAvo hundred and twenty feet high, and there 
Avas pro Added, in addition, about the usual amount of dust 
chamber space. 

Shortly after smelting began, complaints Avere made 
by farmers on all sides that their crops Avere being de¬ 
stroyed and their liA^estock poisoned by the fumes from the 
stacks. After an inA^estigation by the company, most of 
these claims Avere settled, some three hundred and forty 
thousand dollars being paid. The plant Avas shut doAVii and 
the erection of the present great stack and system of flues 
Avas begun. 

The reA erberatoiw flues have an extreme length of about 
three-quarters of a mile, the main flues being sixty by 
twentA' feet in cross section and for a considerable distance 
before the base of the stack is reached the flues are double, 
giving a section of one hundred tAventy feet by tAventy. 

The stack, which is on a hill, is OA^er three hundred feet 
high and has an inside diameter of thirty-one and one-third 
feet, delivering its product at a j)oint fully one thousand feet 
above the valley. This stack and the flues cost about three 
quarters of a million dollars, and, together Avith the former 
stacks, which Avere torn down a year ago, and Avliich cost 
over a hundred thousand dollars, and the claims alreadv 
settled, make a A^ery ^ffidy’’ contribution to ^^smoke.’’ 

' The plaintiff has claimed general destruction and dev¬ 
astation in the valley, involving the killing of the crops by 
the acid gases, the poisoning of the soil and the death of 
animals from eating the alleged poisoned forage. 

The defense secured a corps of experts, each one an 
authority in his line, and had a most thorough investigation 
made of the whole subject. Botanists studied the flora in 


LITIGATION INVOLVING QUESTIONS OF DAMAGE. 


255 


the Deer Lodge Valley said to be injured by the smoke, made 
critical studies of the exhibits of the botanists for the plain¬ 
tiff, and then, by collections made in districts remote from 
smelters were able to demonstrate that injuries alleged to 
arise from smoke were due to other causes; these injuries, 
not only being shown to be similar, but the actual causes 
have been proven by resort to the microscope. 

A plant pathologist spent weeks in the valley and was 
able to demonstrate that the injury to the crops generally 
was due to causes operative everywhere. 

Toxicologists have spent months examining viscera 
from Deer Lodge Valley animals, said to have been ppisoned 
by the arsenic from the smelter, amj of animals from other 
places. 

Veterinarians have made most extensive inquiries into 
the alleged arsenical poisonings and also into all the dis¬ 
eases occurring in this region. 


The best comparative anatomists and bacteriologists in 
tlie world have been actively engaged in a study of the prob¬ 
lem, and special laboratories have been equipped at great 
expense, to make the investigation as complete as possible. 

All the important literature on the subject has been 
carefully scanned for information on the various i)hases of 
the subject, and in many cases, complete translations have 
been made from foreign books dealing with this problem. 

Every facility has been afforded for a comi)lete study of 
the subject, animals by the hundred have been purchased* 
for various experiments and feeding tests, and several hun¬ 
dred horses and cows have been killed for the purpose of 
post mortem study. 

For its effort to make this defense as complete as pos¬ 
sible, for the lavish expenditure of money to this end; and 
for the thoroughness of the investigation, the mining public 
is greatly indebted to -the Anaconda Copper Mining Com¬ 
pany for a magnificent defense which is bound to become 


historic. 



J 


.. V t 


. ) 


t > i ^ 1 - - . ^ 

Needed'Legislation for the Protection of Forests 


LEWIS E. AUBURY, STATE MINERALOGIST, SAN FRANCISCO, CAL¬ 
IFORNIA. 

That there is urgent.need for more national and' state - 
legislation in regard to the protection of our forested areas, 
both from lire and the operations of timber speculators, is 
a subject which I believe, is Avorthy the attention of the 
American Mining Congress. 

The general opinion seems to be that the gOA^ernment 
is looking to such protection, and that the individual need 
not concern himself Avitli matters which our senators and 
representatives are supposed to attend to. Noav, I do not 
Avish to be understood as criticizing the very efficient Avork 
of the present Forest Service, nor the able efforts expended 
by Hon. Gifford Pinchot to protect our forests. To Presi¬ 
dent PooseA^elt Ave OAve more than to any other chief exec¬ 
utive for the carrying out of beneficent forest reserA^e poli¬ 
cies, but Ave must look to the future when Ave may not have 
a Ivoosevelt to direct, nor a Pinchot to carry out a polic}^ 
similar to the present one. 

The miners, as Avell as every class of citizens, Avho luiA^e 
the Avelfare of our country at heart, are one and all agreed 
that our forests must be protected. No public moA^ement 
of magnitude has eA^er taken up the subject of .forest protec¬ 
tion as it deserves, and while there may liaA^e been a feAV 
societies interested in a Avay, passing resolutions, etc., fur¬ 
ther than that the subject has not been pressed. 

Some may say Ave have our present Forest Peserves, 
and that additional Peserves are being created, and that 
Avhen permanent lines are draAvn, defining the Peserves, the 
question Avill be settled. Do not be too certain in that direc¬ 
tion. Let me remind you that timber is becoming scarcer 
year by year, and that the lAiesent aA^ailable supply, CA^en 
including that in our present Forest Peserves, Acliich up to 
July, 1906, occupied an area of 102,329,877 acres, Avill con¬ 
tain only sufficient timber to last for another tAventy-five 
years, if the present wasteful methods are continued. Then 
let us consider the number of acres of government timber 
land outside of the Peserves, uoav open to entry, and Avhich 
also contain marketable timber. Let me assure Amu that 
this area is verv limited. 

t/ 





NEEDED LEGISLATION FOR FORESTS. 


257 


Then let us consider the amount of timber land owned 
by corporations and individuals west of the Mississippi 
river. This area is very large, but the number of owners is 
very small. In fact, this large domain, involving millions 
of acres, is owned or controlled by about twenty-five indi¬ 
viduals or corporations, commonly called ^Timber grab¬ 
bers,’’ who appear to have an insatiable appetite for desir¬ 
able timber land, their desires for possession leading them 
to endeavor to secure these lands bv hook or crook, and more' 

V 7 

often it is bv ‘‘crook.” 

t- 

Xo one has yet been able to ascertain what the “ca¬ 
pacity” of the timber grabber really is, nor when or where 
his dej)redations will cease. He never sleeps, and while you 
are congratulating yourself That the timber you need for 
mining purposes is perfectly safe in the Forest Reserves, 
and can be drawn on when required, he and his allies are 
at Avork framing some measure to cut off a slice of the Ke- 
serves. Xow, 1 do not Avish to be classed as an alarmist, 
nor do I Avish to liaA e a^ou consider this mereh^ a theoiw. It 
is a fact that iiotAvithstanding the policy of the President 
to enlarge our present Forest Keserves for the protection 
of the timber and the conservation of our Avater supply, 
that attacks are constantly being made on this ])olicy, and 
efforts are likeAvise put forth from time to time to have 
throAvii open to entry (so that they might be located by 
agents of the speculator) lands noAV in permanent Keserves. 
You might ask: “Hoav could this be accomplished Avheii our 
lands are safeguarded by the agents of the government?” 
Let me again say: “Do not be too sure of that.” AYere all 
gOA^ernnient agents trustAA orthy, our fears might be quieted, 
but I am sorry to say that such is not the case, and that 
there is often collusion betAveen the timber grabber and 
goA’ernment officials, as has been demonstrated in the past. 
I might add, also, that in this I speak not from hearsay, but 
from personal knoAvledge. 

The developments in the Oregon land fraud cases, 
Avhich Avere made public during the past year, and in Avhich 
government officials, a TTiiited States senator, and ])romi- 
nent citizens Avere convicted of timber land frauds, only go 
to illustrate the fact that there is a great necessity for more 
stringent laAVS to protect our forests. The illegal acts per¬ 
petrated in Oregon are but a speck as compared to those in 
other Pacific coast states, and Avhen the methods adopted hy 
some of the holders of these lands to acquire the timber 
thereon are exposed, they Avill make a startling chapter. 

One of the greatest causes for concern is the fact that 


■258 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN-MINING CONGRESS. 


most of the a.vailable timber land is in ,the hands of a few 
individuals or corporations. For instance, in California ap¬ 
proximately one million acres of the best timbered land in 
our state is controlled by one individual. 

41.. When we consider our timber land laws which appear 
to some as being so carefully drawn that they could not be 
improved upon, how is it possible that such vast areas could 
be acquired honestly? Is it not against public policy that 
' such immense holdings, whether acquired legally or not, 
should be allowed to be possessed by any individual or cor¬ 
poration? 

What will be the position of the miner a few years 
from now when his present available supply of timber shall 
have been exhausted? He will be at the mercv of the tim- 
ber baron, unless there is a convenient Forest Keserve from 
which he can draw. Then how will it be possible for him 
to mine his ore at a profit without a cheap supply of timber 
to draw from? Already timber and lumber prices have be¬ 
gun to advance, and there is no indication that they will 
ever become lower. If this is the case, it behooves not only 
the mining, but all other interests as well, to look to the 
future. 

There is a necessity also for extreme watchfulness to 
preserve intact our present permanent and temporary For¬ 
est Keserves against the underhanded methods of the lim¬ 
ber grabber. A new danger confronts us, which merits 
deep consideration. It was thought that the Forest Reserve 
policy would protect all classes within the lines of the Re¬ 
serves, particularly the miner, and that none but a min¬ 
eral entry could be made in the Reserves, but, behold the 
ingenuity of the timber grabber for contriving means to 
accomplish his purpose—he files placer mineral locations. 
This has been done in California in the temporary and per¬ 
manent Reserves, and filings aggregating approximately 
one million acres have already been made on timber lands, 
but a small percentage of which have any evidence of being 
mineral in character. This class of locations is not onlv 
illegal, but the methods of the individuals making them 
serves to cast an onus on our industrv. 

; , This again brings up the question of an available sup¬ 
ply of timber for the miner. If such placer locations on tim¬ 
ber land in temporary and permanent Forest Reserves are 
legalized, I ask.you: Will the miner not be subject to the 
timber baron methods in the Reserves as he is outside of 
them ? , 

Let us hope.that the Forest Service will use its best 



NEEDED LEGISLATION FOR FORESTS. 


259 


efforts in protecting us from this new danger, and before 
all the vacant lands now in lieserves shall have been simi¬ 
larly hied upon, that means will be devised to correct this 
evil. There is obviously a great necessity for more stringent 
laws, or of stronger regulations by the Forest Service, relat¬ 
ing to mining locations in the Keserves. 

One of our most serious considerations in the matter 
of forest protection is that of lire, which annually consumes 
more timber than all other causes combined. Some of the 
states have passed laws relating to the punishment of per¬ 
sons setting fires or allowing the same to get beyond con¬ 
trol, but it is quite evident that these laws are hot enforced 
or they are not sufficiently stringent to prevent the recur¬ 
rence of the annual fires. 

In my opinion, the attention of the different state Leg¬ 
islatures should be directed to the necessity for the enact¬ 
ment of rigorous laws, or to the enforcement of their pres¬ 
ent law^s concerning the setting of forest fires. 

In considering the various subjects relating to forest 
protection of which I have spoken, if they meet with .the ap¬ 
proval of the Mining Congress, I trust that my statements, 
as well as any others which may be suggested looking 
towards the improvement of conditions w^hich will benefit 
the miner, will be so firmly placed before the state and gov¬ 
ernment officials that proper legislation and regulations 
will be enacted. Otherwise, if we procrastinate, and are 
not granted fuller protection, some day we will awaken^to 
the fact that we are endeavoring to run our quartz mills 
with an empty ore bin. 


J.o- 


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Alaska and Its Possibilities 


BY J. T. CORNFORTH, 

Early History of Alaska. 

It was Humboldt’s primary theory that the great gold 
belt extended from the Arctic ocean in the Rockies to Cape 
Horn, and because of the peculiar formation, he held that 
the Far North contained by far the greater part of the pre¬ 
cious metals. 

In 1889 Prof. T. G. Mendenhall, of the United States 
Geodetic and Coast Survey Department, went further and 
undertook, in a report of an actual survey made by him, to 
trace the gold through the Alaska peninsula. He picked it 
up in the foothills of the Rockies, at a point 100 miles back 
of Nome, followed it to the headwaters of the Koyukuk and 
Porcupine rivers; thence along the western slope of the 
Rockies at the exact point of the source of the Klondike 
river. 

In 1832 the first gold was discovered in Alaska on the 
Anauk river, a tributary of the Kuskokwim, which joins the 
latter stream about twentv-five miles below Kalmakofskv, 
according to the Ketchikan Alaska Mining Journal, by Ivan 
Simensan Lukeen, at which time he built Fort Lukeen, a 
trading post of the Russian American Trading Company. 
Lukeen was born of Russian and Spanish-American Creole 
parents in the Ross colony in California. He wms well edu¬ 
cated and proved to be an active, energetic and intelligent 
officer. 

At the time of the discoverv of gold in the Klondike,, 
but little or nothing was known by the world of the exist- 
enc of such a rich mineral country, so the opening of Alaska 
dates from 1897. 

Placer Gold. 

The production of gold increases each season. The 
scarcity of water is the greatest drawback, the numerous 
ditches now finished in the Seward peninsula ^^costing many 
millions of dollars,” will double the present output of the 
yellow^ metal next year. The Tanana district stands at the 
front this season, with a production of over eight million 
dollars. 

The Malchatna and Koyukuk countr}^ will be the next 
district to be heard from. 



ALASKA AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 261 

I 

Quartz mining is not attracting tlie prospector at this 
time, for placer grounds are so numerous, and bring the 
ready cash in the shortest space of time. The one quartz 
mine with a stamp mill is the Hurrah, located on the Seward 
Peninsula. Its output is from |300,000 to f400,000 an¬ 
nually. This is the only mill in operation in the North. 
Numerous ones are in southeastern Alaska, but this article 
does not cover or refer to that section. Southeastern Alaska 
is a territory in and of itself, and the value of its rich mines 
are well known. 

Many believe that we have nothing but placer gold in 
the North. Hundreds of prospects of gold quartz veins have 
been found running from two to fifty feet in width, and car¬ 
rying from a trace to hundreds of dollars a ton in gold. 

We have many other metals in commercial quantity, 
but few people appreciate the richness of Alaska, conse¬ 
quently cannot understand its importance. Space will not 
permit to go into any lengthy descrq^tion of the new dis¬ 
coveries universally distributed all over the territory. For 
instance, hematite and chrome iron ores on the Kenai pen¬ 
insula and Clark Lakes district, bismuth north of Nome, 
natural gas and petroleum on the Seward peninsula, native 
silver and galena in the Golovin Bay district, tin from Cape 
Prince of Wales to tlie eastward for nearly two hundred 
miles, gives hope of furnishing the United States^ future 
supply; anthracite and bituminous coal in the Controller 
Bay region, near the mouth of Copper river, which com¬ 
pares with IVnnsylvania and West Virginia coal. 

yiinerals. 

The copper districts continue to make a splendid show¬ 
ing. The Alaska Ilianma Copper Company has opened a 
nine-foot vein of ore. The Millet property, near Iliamna 
lake, a twelve-foot vein of ore; the Copper River country 
fully establishes past statements that it is rich in copper 
ores. All that is now needed is transportation to bring the 
ore to tide water. The copper mines at La Touche Island, 
Land Locked Bay and Elleniar mines in Virgin Bay, all in 
Prince William Sountd, are now shipping ore to the Tacoma 
smelter. 

The Lead-Silver property, near Council City, com¬ 
menced shipping this season. 

Cinnabar. 

The development work on the cinnabar deposit, four 
miles above Kalmakof, on the Kuskokwim river, assays 
from nine to eighty per cent, quicksilver. The remarkable 


262 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

' * # *• * ’ ^* 

feature of tlie ledge is the qua,ntity of the ore and the Ioav^ 

cost of mining. A better word than ledge—quarry^—seems 
to apply to this proi)erty. ^ It is 200 feet high, along which 
are two principal veins. < 

, Many are invading the Kuskokwim country tliis sum¬ 
mer. Several experts from Montana and New York are 
exploiting, the country. , Five steamers are now. in the river 
trade, stores are being established, one at the forks of the 
main stream, and the east fork, some 800 miles from its 
mouth on Bering Sea. Everything points to a heavy rush 
there in the spring, as the countit^^ is known to be rich in 
minerals. 

Tonnage. 

The mining camps of Alaska have received from Puget 
Sound ports this year (1906) over 250,000 tons of freight, in 
value many millions of dollars. The business continues to 
expand every year. The principal exports- from Alaska are 
gold, copper, furs and canned salmon. The imports are 
everything that a rich, neiv country calls for,—in develop¬ 
ing the mines, building the home, feeding and clothing the 
people. It is the most valuable asset of the United States. 

' The people of Alaska wish to convey many thanks to 
President Richards and the delegates to the Congress at 
Portland and El Pas6 for their support in obtaining two 
representatives in the Federal Congress. It is predicted 
that it will give industrial development and advancement 
that was impossible without representation at Washington. 

We also wish to tender our supj)ort for a Department 
of Mines and Mining. We of Alaska know it would be of 
inestimable value to the whole American people. We owe 
much to the officers of the United States Geological Survey, 
which is but a slight introduction to what a Cabinet Officer 
would be able to accomplish for the mining interests of 
our country. 

One of the greatest events of the year was the arrival 
of Capt. Roald Amundsen in his eighty-foot sloop, Gjoa, at 
Nome. He arrived by the way of the Northwest Passage 
from Norway, being the first man that ever made the trip. 
He was-given a great reception "by the people of the Seward 
Peninsula. 

Transportation. 

To-day the only means of travel is by water, sled, foot 
or horseback. Major Richardson is building a few miles of 
government wagon roads; if continued support is given him 
by Congress, his work will result in great benefit. 




ALASKA AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 


263: 


Railroads are building that will give relief and trans¬ 
portation all the year to open ports on the Pacific. 

For instance, the Alaska Short Line Railway will open 
a ne.w empire of 120,000 square miles, rich in all things 
called for most. In minerals it compares with Colorado, 
Utah and Montana. It opens the richest and best agricul¬ 
tural lands in Alaska, in a most favorable climate, fully 
equal to any of the Northern states. It will connect with 
5,000 miles of navigable rivers and lakes,^with .a sea x>ort 
open every day in the year at Iliamna bay. Cook inlet. 

Alaska offers great opportunity to mining men or those 
interested in mining. It is yet an infant in its swaddlings 
clothes, but in a few years more it will rank amongst the 
greatest producers of gold, copper, cinnabar, tin,' iron, bis¬ 
muth, coal and oil. For the number of its inhabitants, it 
outranks, per capita, any of the mineral producing states 
to-day. 






< 


t 


✓ 


1 



Amendments Advisable to State Laws Affecting 

Mining Operations 


BY WILSON I. SNYDER, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

I might properly treat this subject by simply saying: 

(1.) Repeal the useless laws, of which there are many, 

:n all mining states. 

(2.) Make the remaining laws uniform. 

Accomplish this in one of two ways: 

(a.) Relegate tlie entire subject to Federal legisla- 
i ion, or 

(b.) Appoint a commission consisting of one member 
irom each mining state to formulate proper legislation to 
be submitted to the legislatures of all the mining states of 
the Public Domain class. 

But, inasmuch as there should be reasons for all radi¬ 
cal changes in legislation, it is necessary to advance those 
reasons^ and to particularize at some length the changes 
that seem desirable. 

In the first place, respecting state laws governing the ' 
location and operation of mines on the public domain, the 
Legislatures should be j^iit right as to the limits to valid 
legislation on this subject. It is believed that the only war¬ 
rant for state legislation respecting the manner of locating 
and holding mining claims upon the public domain is to be 
found in the first sentence of Section 2324, R. S. IT. S. Of 
course, this does not include inherent police power, nor the 
matters provided in Section 2338 respecting easements, etc., 
which I shall not further notice here. 

Therefore, all laws respecting the manner of locating 
and holding mining claims on the public domain, which do 
not find their warrant in this sentence, are void; thev are 
denominated “useless laws.’’ 

Somewhat in the interest of perspicuity, let me say: 
The chiefest elements of value of any system of laws are 
uniformity, certainty and stability. These, of course, so 
far fis the matter is capable of reservation by Congress, 
could be more accurately secured by amendment to the 
Federal laws so as to sufficiently cover the question as it 
related to mining operations Avithin the public domain 
stales. But, further than that, and as to other states, it 



AMENDMENTS ADVISABLE TO STATE LAWS. 


265 


‘oould be secured only by amendment to the Federal con* 

t/ 

stitution. 

But, if the Federal statutes were amended and en¬ 
larged, mucli present mischief could be corrected. 

The laws ought to be so that a location made in a legal 
way in Ftah, and sufficient to satisfy the laws there, would, 
if niede in the same way be equally yalid in Colorado, Mon¬ 
tana or Neyada. Under existing conditions, with the mani¬ 
fold yariations in state legislation on the same subject, a 
]avy 5 ^er in Utah, who can successfully adyise as to the man¬ 
ner of making a yalid location in that state, would be en¬ 
tirely at sea in Montana or Neyada, and would haye to 
adyise with caution, and after a careful examination of 
the statutes and the adjudged cases. 

How much more serious and difficult must it be for 
the prospector to comply with the law! 

An<l Ay hen it is remembered that the law is supposed 
to haye been made for the benefit of the iirospector, the in¬ 
justice becomes all the more glaring. 

Nor is the situation oyerstated. 

Within the last year a decision was rendered in one of 

t/ 

the states, AAdierein a location failed, because the discoA ery 
shaft was not sufficiently described in the location certifi¬ 
cate or record of the claim. The reason of the statute, the 
court declared, was in order that the record might show 
that the statute had been complied AAfith, but the court did 
not state Ay hat the result Avould be if the record falsely 
shoAyed such compliance. 

Another case AAms reA^ersed because the location certifi¬ 
cate or record did not contain a description of the markings 
on the corner posts. 

At least one jurisdiction has the rather remarkable 
requirement that the location certificate shall in cases of 
relocation, state, ^fif the aaTioIc or any part of the new loca¬ 
tion is made as abandoned property, else it shall be yoid.^’ 
And this proAusion has been upheld by the highest court in 
that jurisdiction; the court going so far as to point it out 

where not raised by either party. 

The court also found it necessary to legislate into the 
•section the additional AAmrds ^h^r forfeited.’^ 

The objection to this legislation is that it imposes hard¬ 
ships sometimes impossible of performance; for example, a 
claim might be laAyfully located by a preliminary notice in 
any one of the seyeral states permitting such, and allow¬ 
ing, say, ninety days in AAdiich to do discoA’^ery AA'ork, stake 
and record; none of these acts being done in time, the claim 


2Gt5 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING" CONGRESS. 

is forfeited just as mucdi as ifdt lapsed for want of assess¬ 
ment work, after being held for several years; there may 
be no evidence on'the ground indicating a previous loca¬ 
tion, yet at tlie^'peril of forfeiting his location, the locator 
must specify the faict in his location certificate. 

Legislation along reasonable lines was, of course, con¬ 
templated by the enactment of Section 2324, It: S. U. S., but 
if these matters are to remain in the hands of state legis¬ 
latures, a strong effort should be made to harmonize them; 
to expunge all useless provisions, and to reduce the remain¬ 
ing provisions to lines of justice and reason; using, for that 
purpose, simple and plain language. ■ 

But, the better plan would be to repeal that part of 
Section 2324, K. S. U. S., which confers upon mining dis¬ 
tricts and therefore state legislatures, the right to legislate 
upon certain matters, and thus reserve the entire subject 
to Congress; then with such simple amendments, as to loca¬ 
tion work, marking the boundaries and recording, as expe¬ 
rience has shown to be wise, the atmosphere would *be ma¬ 
terially cleared. » ' ' 

While we are talking of amendments,' the entire mining 
law could be recast to advantage. 

Especially should Section >2323 be repealed, or the 
rights of tunnel claimants'materially restricted.' Say, to 
at least 750 feet on each side of the center of the bore of 
the tunnel; what is meant bv ^h'easonable diligence’’ should 
be definitelv declared, and a tunnel claimant should be re- 
quired to be as vigilant as any other in the matter of ad¬ 
verse proceedings. 

' Perhaps the laAV establishing extralateral rights is too 
firmly rooted to admit of any amendment. Perhaps it is 
not wise now to make suggestions respecting the advisabil¬ 
ity of establishing vertical boundaries, but at any rate, the 
manner of laying surface lines in making locations, can be 
prescribed with greater* certainty and much mischief ihus 
eliminated. For instance, let the lines be established by a 
public engineer in the first instance, and for that jiurpose 
let a surveyor of experience be appointed in each-district 
to assist the prospector, at slight private 'expense, in 
making the location, and let the location be laid in all cases 
in the form of a parallelogram,“ unless surface erosions, or 
other causes, have so shaped the topography of the country 
as to make it impossible to cover the outcrop by a location 
so formed; encroachments should only'be permitted to pro¬ 
vide for assertion of extralateral rights. < 

In Mexico and other Spanish provinces a’ public officer 




AMENDMENTS ADVISABLE TO STATE LAWS. S67 

was required to assist in making a location—marking the 
perfenencias—and in the denouncement in case of an aban¬ 
doned mine. If seems td^have Avorked well; and at all 
eA’^ents such a proceeding AAmiild preA^ent the floating and 
shifting' of boundaries, which liaA^e been the cause of so 
much litigation in this country. 

Such an amendment could be made practicable by in¬ 
serting a proAusion permitting the prospector to post any 
kind of a notice at the point of his discoAmry, stating the 
name, nature and extent of his claim, the direction along' 
the A'ein as near as practicable and his intention to haA'e 
his lines properly marked. This notice should be suflicient 
to hold his claim for, say thirty days, within which he 
should be required to liaA'e his boundaries marked by the 
public surveyor, and immediately thereafter prepare his lo¬ 
cation certificate and haA^e it recorded. 

The surA'eyor should be required to describe the claim 
with such accuracy that, upon filing his field notes in the 
office of the suiweyor general, a plat could be prejiared for 
use in applying for patent, Avithout the expense of a re- 
survey. 

It is believed that this and other desired reformations 
can be made possible, and uniformity secured, by reserving 
the whole matter to Congress, and that it is impracticable 
to accomplish it in any other way. 

The state statutes regulating the operation of mines, 
quarries and oil or gas wells are many and varied. They 
are the outgrowth of the experience and necessities of the 
particular jurisdiction, and coA'er a Amriety of subjects. 
Some enlarge the definition of negligence as between mas¬ 
ter and serwant; some are mere police regulations, Avhile 
others partake of elements of both. State statutes provid¬ 
ing for miners’ liens are common to nearly all the states. 
While those requiring the use of safety cages and other 
safe appliances on cages used in Amrtical shafts; proAuding 
for ventilation, and in coal mines ''propping, etc.,” are not 
uncommon. Likewise the right of eminent domain is ex¬ 
tended to mining in many states. 

It is believed to be unnecessary to repeat these at 
length here, as I did that very carefully in 1902 in my work 
on mines. 

Such of these statutes as are general in their nature, 
for example, those providing for miners’ liens, eminent do¬ 
main, ventilation and similar subjects, should be as nearly 
uniform in their proAusions as possible. 

The persons to whom the right to claim a miners’ lien 



268 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


extends should be definitely pnd uniformly fixed. For ex¬ 
ample, if it extends to a mine superintendent, a watchman 
and an ore hauler in one state, the same rule should apply 
in all others. 

The estate to which it attaches should likewise be cer¬ 
tainly definitely and uniformly fixed. At least one state 
and one territory have extended it to the estate of an op¬ 
tionor or lessor of a mine operated under lease and option 
to purchase. This is unjust, and under proper notice of 
the manner and character of operation should not be per¬ 
mitted. 

Many of the states have laws upon the subject of min¬ 
ing leases. These are essentially local' in their line of 
thought, and it would seem impracticable to reduce them 
to a system; this may, however, become possible with ad¬ 
vanced experience. 

It may be a too radical thought to suggest the relega¬ 
tion of the entire subject of mining to the National Con¬ 
gress by an amendment to the Federal constitution, but 
harmony and uniformity are much to be desired, and if they 
cannot be attained in one wav, thev should be in another. 


APPENDIX 


1 

Proposed Act for the Creation of Mine 
, Drainage Districts 


A N A C T 

Concerning Mine Drainage Districts. 

Be It Enacted by the General Assembly of the State of.: 

Section 1.—Petition for District Organization: Any number of 
persons, not less than ten, owning and operating mining claims in any 
mining camp or district, whose aggregate valuation for purposes of taxa¬ 
tion within said district shall be not less than one-third (%) of the total 
assessed valuation of any property situated within the boundaries of the 
proposed drainage districts, may at any time file with the clerk of the Dis¬ 
trict Court of the county in which such claims are situate, a verified peti¬ 
tion addressed to the judge of said District Court, praying for the organ¬ 
ization of a mine drainage district. 

Sec. 2—Contents of Petition: Such petition shall set forth the name 
of the proposed mine drainage district; the acreage of the mining prem¬ 
ises situate therein severally owned by the petitioners, and approximately 
the aggregate area of all mining claims within the district, and that said 
mining premises are believed by the petitioners to have a common source 
and fiow of water and can be drained and unwatered by one common 
system of drainage; and that such drainage will be of common benefit to 
all mining premises within the proposed exterior boundaries of the dis¬ 
trict. 

Sec. 3.—Such petition shall further designate the proposed exterior 
boundaries and give the names of all mining claims known to be located 
or patented within the district, and the names of the owners thereof so 
far as known to the petitioners. 

Sec. 4.—Publication of Notice: Upon the filing of said petition, the 
court shall proceed to designate some newspaper published within the 
county where the district is situate, and shall order that in such news¬ 
paper there be published a notice addressed to all persons (other than 
the petitioners named in the petition), owners of, or interested in, min¬ 
ing claims within the boundaries of the proposed district. 

Sec. 5.—Such notice shall be published for four successive weeks. It 
shall contain a copy of the petition and shall state that the same will be 
heard on the first day of the term of the said District Court next after 
the date of the last publication, or on such date thereafter as may be set 
by the court, and shall notify all persons, owners of mining claims within 
said district or interested therein, to appear and plead to said petition, 
and that otherwise default will be taken and a decree made according to 
the facts and the equities of the case as they may be found by the court. 

Sec. 6.—The court shall further order that a copy of said notice be 
mailed to each person, other than the petitioners, named as an owner in 
said petition, at least four weeks before the next term of the said court. 
The fact of the publication and of the mailing of the copies shall be 
proved in the same manner as is by law required for the proof of publica¬ 
tion of process in civil cases. 

Sec. 7.—Proceedings After Petition Is Filed: All owners of mining 
claims or parties interested therein, including encumbrancers, shall have 
the right to appear and plead to such petition, and if any material alle- 





270 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


gations of the same are traversed the issue shall be tried to the court as 
in equity cases, and if default is made and no traverse or other objection 
to the petition filed, the court shall nevertheless require proof of all the 
material allegations of the petition. 

Sec. 8.— Change of Boundaries: The boundaries of the proposed dis¬ 
trict shall not necessarily be the same stated in the petition, and the 
court may diminish but shall not enlarge the same. 

Sec. 9.—Decree and Plat: Upon final hearing, if the‘finding be in 
favor of the petitioners, the Court shall make a decree that the proposed 
mine drainage district be established, stating its boundaries and describ¬ 
ing it as “Mine Drainage District No. —, of the County of- 

giving it the proper number, which decree shall contain a plat of the 
said boundaries and a certified copy of such decree, including the plat, 
shall be filed with the clerk and recorder of the county in which the dis¬ 
trict is situate, and a second copy shall be filed in the office of the secre¬ 
tary of state. 

Sec. 10. — Corporate Name: Upon the signing of said decree and the 
filing of said copies, as aforesaid, the ssud district shall become a munici¬ 
pal corporation with power to sue and be sued, under the name and style 

of “Mine Drainage District No. —, of the County of-the 

number of the district and the name of the county both being part of its 
corporate name. 

Sec. 11. — Contracts and Conveyances; Corporate Powers: All con¬ 
tracts and conveyances of the mine drainage district shall be in such, its 
corporate name; but the corporate powers .shall be exercised by the board 
of supervisors hereinafter provided for. 

Sec. 12.—Bond for Costs: Upon the filing of said petition, the peti¬ 
tioners shall file a bond with sufficient surety or sureties to be approved 
by the clerk of the court, conditioned for the payment of all costs which 
may accrue up to and including the filing of said copies of the decree; but 
the court shall have power to apportion the costs between the petitioners 
and the parties opposing the petition in case of contest. 

Sec. 13. — Appointment of Supervisors: At any time after the signing 
of said decree and the filing of said copies, the petitioners shall furnish 
in writing to the judge of the District Court the names of not less th^n 
nine nor more than fifteen persons, mine owners within the district, or 
officers of corporations owning mining claims within the district, which 
persons or officers must be free-holders within and residents of the 
county from which list such judge shall select five persons to be known 
as the board of supervisors of said mine drainage district; appointing 
them for terms of, respectively: one, two, three, four and five years, and 
shall appoint their successors having like qualifications, from year to year 
as the terms of office expire or vacancies otherwise occur. The persons 
so appointed shall hold their office until their successors are appointed. 

Sec. 14.—Office Room, Chairman, Clerk, Records, Quorum* The Board 
of County Commissioners shall provide office room for said board of super¬ 
visors, and a place for the deposit of their records^ Said board shall or¬ 
ganize by electing a chairman from their own number and by electing, a 
clerk not of their own number, and the board shall require such clerk to 
keep regular minutes of their meetings and accounts of all receipts and 
expenditures All such records and accounts shall be open to public in¬ 
spection, the same as the public records in the office of the clerk and re¬ 
corder. Meetings shall be at the call of the chairman or any two mem¬ 
bers of the board and not less than three members shall constitute^ a 
quorum. 

Sec. 15.—Selection of System: Said board shall determine upon, a 
system of mine drainage for the district, either by gravity or power or by 
both combined, and to,assess the cost thereof upon thq prppepty to be 
benefited thereby. 






APPENDIX^ 


271 


Sec. 16.—No.tice of Selection of System: Upon the adoption of any 
system of drainage, the clerk of the board shall cause to be published once 
a week for four successive weeks in some weekly newspaper published in 
the county, a notice stating in general terms the system adopted and the 
estimated cost, and mail copy of such notice to each person shown on the 
drainage district records to be a party in interest. 

Sec. 17;—Letting Contracts: The board shall have power to employ 
labor and professional services as required and to do all things necessary 
to carry out the details of the plan, and to contract for the work to be 
done by single contract or to divide it into sections and let contracts from 
time to time. 

_ Sec. 18.—Inspection: All parties in interest shall have access to the 
main avenues and laterals of such drainage system, subject to such rules 
and regulations as are adopted by the board of supervisors. 

Sec. 19.—Bonds and Taxes: In order to provide for the payment of 
the expenses of the drainage, or for the payment of any issue of bonds, 
the board shall have power to levy and cause to be collected a tax upon 
all mining claims and premises within the district. Such tax shall be 
voted only at a regular meeting of the board and shall not exceed in any 
one year 50 mills on every dollar of valuation as shown by the assessment 
roll of the county assessor. 

Sec. 20.—Collection of Taxes: Such levy shall be certified by the 
clerk under the seal of the district, to the county assessor, and shall be 
extended Upon his books and collected in all respects as provided for the 
'Collection of other taxes in the county in which the district is situate. 

Sec. 21.—Interest, Lien of Bonds: Said board shall have power to 
borrow money necessary to carry out the system of drainage adopted, by 
the issue of bonds bearing interest net to exceed eight per cent, per 
annum, payable at the office of the county treasurer in even sums of not 
less than five hundred dollars, and such bonds shall be a lien upon all 
property within the boundaries of the district made taxable under this act. 

Sec. 22.—Warrants: The county treasurer shall pay out the funds 
collected as taxes under the foregoing sections, or any funds however 
acquired, only upon warrants drawn against the same by the said district, 
under its coroprate seal, signed by the clerk and countersigned by the 
chairman of the board. Warrants drawn under this act shall be assign¬ 
able, transferable and payable in all respects the same as county war¬ 
rants. 

Sec. 23.—Salaries and Per Diem: The salary of the clerk shall be 
fixed by the board. The members of the board shall receive no compen¬ 
sation, except five dollars per day while in actual session, and no mem¬ 
ber shall receive in the aggregate more than five hundred dollars in any 
-one calendar year. 

Sec. 24.—Collection of Tolls: Every drainage district shall have a 
right to collect tolls for the use of right-of-way, upon terms fixed by the 
board, which shall be the same to all parties for like services; to accept 
'Compensation for service to adjoining mines outside the district and ac- 
'cept revenue from all parties benefited by any use of the property, assets 
or easements of the district. All funds accruing under this section shall 
be used to diminish the tax rate and any excess of revenue over expenses 
not held as a sinking fund shall be repaid pro rata to the payers of pre¬ 
vious taxes. 

Sec. 25.—Eminent Domain: Any drainage district shall have the right 
to accept deeds for rights-of-way and other easements, by gift or upon 
■compensation to be paid, and when reasonable compensation for right-of- 
way or other essential easement can not be agreed upon, the district shall 
have the power to exercise the right of eminent domain under the stat¬ 
utes of this state. 

Sec. 26._Prior Drainage Statutes: Nothing in this act shall be con- 

;strued to repeal the provisions of the statutes of this state concerning 


272 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


drainage, where no mine drainage district exists. Said statutes shall have- 
no application within the limits of any mine drainage district created un¬ 
der the provisions of this act. 

Sec. 27.—Conflicting Acts: All acts and parts of acts in conflict here¬ 
with are hereby repealed. 

Sec. 28.—In the opinion of the General Assembly an emergency exists; 
therefore this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its pas¬ 
sage. 


Proposed Act for the Protection of Mining Inves ors 

AN ACT 

To Prohibit the Making or Publishing of False or Exaggerated Statements 
or Publications of or Concerning the Affairs, Pecuniary Condition or 
Property of Any Corporation, Joint Stock Association, Co-partnership 
or Individual, Which Said Statements or Publications Are Intended 
to Give, or Shall Have a Tendency to Give, a Less or Greater Appar¬ 
ent Value to the Shares, Bonds or Property, or Any Part Thereof of 
Said Corporation, Joint Stock Association, Co-partnership or Indi¬ 
vidual, Than the Said Shares, Bonds or Property Shall Really and in 
Fact Possess, and Providing a Penalty Therefor. 

Section 1. Any person who knowingly makes or publishes in any 
way whatever, or permits to be so made or published, any book, pros¬ 
pectus, notice, report, statement, exhibit or other publication of or con¬ 
cerning the affairs, flnancial condition or property of any corporation, 
joint-stock association, co-partnership or individual, which said book,, 
prospectus, notice, report, statement, exhibit or other publication, shall 
contain any statement which is false or wilfully exaggerated or which is 
intended to give, or which shall have a tendency to give, a less or greater 
apparent value to the shares, bonds or property of said corporation, joint- 
stock association, co-partnership or individual, or any part of said shares, 
bonds or property, than said shares, bonds or property or any part 
thereof, shall really and in fact possess, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, 
and upon conviction thereof shall be imprisoned for not more than ten 
years or fined not more than ten thousand dollars, or shall suffer both; 
said fine and imprisonment. 

Sec. 2. All acts and parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby 
repealed. 

Sec. 3. In the opinion of the General Assembly an emergency exists; 
therefore this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its. 
passage. 



PAPERS AND 
ADDRESSES 

OF THE 

NINTH ANNUAL SESSION 

OF THE 

AMERICAN 

MINING 

CONGRESS 

« 

1906 

DENVER, COLORADO 
OCTOBER 16TH TO 19TH INCLUSIVE 

Published by the Congress at the Office of the Secretary 

Denver, Colorado, 1907 


















' A •**,' 





■'i'l 

A , 



f 


••• >’ 


PAPERS AND 
ADDRESSES 

OF THE 

NINTH ANNUAL SESSION 

OF THE 

AMERICAN 

> 4 . 

MINING 
.CONGRESS 

i 

^ » * 

. ^ V « 

) > 

* - 3 J > 

1906 

DENVER, COLORADO 
OCTOBER 16TH TO 19TH INCLUSIVE 

Published by the Congress at the Office of the Secretary 

Denver, Colorado, 1907 














Copyright 1907 by the American Mining Congress • 

Denver, Colorado 


Gill 

Author 







Western Newspaper TTnion, Printei's, Denver, 



V 




1 


INDEX 


President’s Annual Address. Hon. J. H. Richards. 

t 

The Development of the Metal Mining Industry in the Western 

• 

States. AValdemar Lindgren .. 

The Mining and Mineral Resources of Utah. John Bern. 

\ 

The American Institute of Mining Engineers. R. W. Raymond. 

Recent Improvements in the Cyanide Process. F. L. Bosqui. 

Mine Drainage Districts. D. W. Brunton. 

Discussion of .. 

The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelting Trust and the 

Ore Producer. Senator E. A. De La Vergne.. 

The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelter Trust and the 

Ore Producer. Franklin Guiterman . 

Discussion of same . 

Mining in the Joplin District. Ch. Guengerich. 

The Enforcement of Mining Laws. Charles L. Dignowity. 

Mining and Mineral Resources of Wisconsin. W. O. Hotchkiss.... 

The Geological Distribution of Gold. T. A. Rickard. 

The Prevention of Mine Accidents. Edward W. Parker.F. .. . 

Copper Deposits of Washington. A. W. McIntyre. 

Recent Litigation Involving Questions of Alleged Damage from Tail¬ 
ings, Tailings Waters and Smelter Fumes. Prof. F. W. Trap- 

ha gen . 

Discussion of same. 

Needed Legislation for the Protection of Forests. Lewis E. Anbury.. 

Alaska and Its Possibilities. J. T. Cornforth.-.. 

Amendments Advisable to State Laws Affecting Mining Operations. 
Wilson I. Snyder. 


7 

22 

32 


44 


52 


61 

64 


73 


81 

86 

94 

98 

101 

107 

115 

119 


132 

136 

139 

143 

147 






















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OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS 



( <)l>. THOMAS EWIAf; 
Eirst Vi<*e President 
\ivi:in, Vrix<»ii:i 


Hit. E. II. BUCKI.EY 
St*«Muul Vice I’resldfiit 





HON. .1. H. ItrCITABHS 

|•re.suleIlt 
It4»is(‘, Idnlio 


HON. E. A. COI.IH BN 
'I'hird \i«*e Pri*sidt“ii( 
Colorado 


•IAS. E. C'AI.I.IIHE\TH. .lit. 
l)«Miv<*r, ( olonulo 



















AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS 



.10 HIV 

Snlt l.nki* City, Utjili 




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101 


W. r. H. >1II.I.S 
l)<‘iiv»“r. Colorado 
























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Officers for the Year 1907 


PRESIDENT, 

J. H. Richards. 

VICE PRESIDENTS, 

Thomas Ewing, E. R. Buckley, 

E. A, Colburn. 

DIRECTORS, 

J. H. Richards, Boise, Idaho. 

Thomas Ewing, Vivian, Arizona. 

E. R. Buckley, Rolla, Missouri. 

E. A. Colburn, Denver, Colorado. 

George W. E. Dorsey, Fremont, Nebraska. 
W. F. R. Mills, Denver, Colorado. 

John Dern, Salt Lake City, Utah. 

Charles M. Shannon, Clifton, Arizona. 
James W. Malcolmson, El Paso, Texas. 

SECRETARY, 

Janies F. Callbreath, Jr., Denver, Colorado. 
' CURATOR, 

Dr. W. S. Ward, Denver, Colorado. 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. 

Thomas Ewing, E. A. Colburn, 


W. F. R. Mills. 



i 



t 


Annual Address of the President 


BY HON. J. H.' RICHARDS, BOISE, IDAHO. 

Under instructioiis from your Board of Directors, it 
has been ciistomary during tlie time I have been President 
of this organization, to deliver Avliat is called the ^tPresi- 
dent^s Annual Address/’ The real purpose of this custom 
heretofore has been to place before the American people 
a concise statement of the Avork and aims of this institution. 
As it AA’Us important that this should be correctly stated, I 
htiA^e heretofore prepared this address in Avriting, AAutli some 
considerable care, but at this time I feel justified, iri AueAA^ 
of my relations to this body, that 1 should give myself a 
little freer scope, and speak to you as my heart shall dic¬ 
tate. 

It has been iny privilege to be President of this organ¬ 
ization for four consecutiAe years. During that time it has 
taken on its present legal form as a corporation, organized 
under the laAvs of the state of Colorado, Avith its Board of 
Directors and legal officers. 

This Avas done that definiteness of ]mrpose and perma¬ 
nency of organization might be conspicuous in the Avorking 
of The American Mining Congress. 

This step had in vieAV the fact that the mineral industry 
of this great country reaches underneath all the other great 
industries clear doAvn the years of the future, and this or¬ 
ganization, to aid in bringing out of those resources Avhat 
is best to the American people, ought to be as enduring in 
purpose as that A\diich it represents. Its purjioses, Avhile 
definite, in a sense, are of such a nature that under this plan 
of organization, the}" can expand Avith the expanding oppor¬ 
tunities of this body as its Avork goes on. 

Therefore Ave organized in the form AA^e iioaa" have, hop¬ 
ing that as the years go by and this organization demon¬ 
strates that it is Avorthy of that for Avhich it stands, it may 
attract to itself all of that Avhich is best in the best thought 
of mining men and those Avho are in other industries allied 
with mining. This gives a definite aim extending all doAvn 
the years, ever Avidening to meet expanding conditions. 

in vieAV of the foregoing, it is appropriate at tliis fime 
that I should suggest for your consideration certain things 
that in my judgment and in the judgment of your Board of 



8 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Directors are worthy of your consideration on this occasion, 
in the hope that it will aid yon in the deterniination of those 
matters that will be brought before you. 

First, it seems to me that every man has his limitations 
of usefulness in certain directions and it seems proper for 
me to say to you that in my judgment the time has arrived 
when you should select as the presiding officer of this body 
some man who is better equipped for accomplishing the 
immediate work confronting it than myself. 

I was i)laced here because it Avas believed by those who 
were instrumental in placing me in this position that I pos¬ 
sessed the faculty of organization. Fpon that theory I 
accepted it, and upon that theory I Inne acted, and this 
body now represents an organized body of men with pur¬ 
poses outlined in your Articles of Incorporation and By- 
Laws, as the outgroAvth of that idea. I do not for one in¬ 
stant claim the credit for this. 

1 jcan illustrate my idea of that by a statement: At 
El Paso one year ago, Avhen we were holding our session 
there, a gentleman stopped me in the street and said: 
can not understand hoAV Amu have conducted this organiza- 
tion, as I have knoAvn it from the time you took charge of it 
to the i)resent time, and had eAmrything Avork so harmo- 
niousl 3 ^’’ I said: ^‘That is perfectly easy. I have simply 
been able to select and attract around me men who are 
capable of doing big things. They liaAm done the AAmrk, 
and I have stood still and looked Avise.’’ And there is a 
great deal of truth in that, because these men Avho have 
stood by me in this position havm done most of this work 
of organization, and it is due to me and due to them and 
due to you to state that most of the suggestions that have 
resulted in bringing out this organization as it stands be¬ 
fore the AAmrld to-day came from those Directors whom you 
have selected from vear to Amar. 

When we took hold of this matter at Butte, Montana, 
four years ago, those of you Avho Avere present there Avill re¬ 
member Avhat a chaotic state everything Avas in. The 
Chairman absolutelA' lost control of the coiiAmiition; there 
Avas no accounting for funds to anybody, no system or 
order, or general aim to this organization. We had no 
money, Ave had no standing, and Ave were almost Avithout 
hope. Out of that condition your Board of Directors liaAm 
brought out Avhat this organization noAA^ stands for, and I 
say, Avithout any fear of contradiction, that it is organized 
on a clean, good, sound, honorable, business basis, on a 
basis that it needs not to apologize to any one, as a result 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


y 


of the best tliouglit of the best men who Jiave been con¬ 
nected with this organization. 

Second, yon will naturally realize that one of the first 
things we had to consider was the importance of sustain¬ 
ing this organization and meeting its necessary expenses. 
Under the old system of the International Mining Congress, 
we appealed to different localities to hold the sessions 
there and they agreed to contribute so much money toward 
the expense of this organization; but it did not impress ns 
that that was a good business policw. If tlie mining indus¬ 
try is worthy of such an organization, then that organiza¬ 
tion ought to be self-supporting and it ought to go into any 
commuuity where it holds its sessions in a dignified manner, 
and beg of no man and no community; and upon that the^ 
ory we have niidertakeu to organize upon a membershi]) 
basis. While it is a corporation, it has no stock. Yon can 
readily understand why that is true, because every member 
has blit one vote when present upon matters ])ertaining to 
this body, and when he is not present, of course, that share 
or that membership is not represented and can not be trans¬ 
ferred, so that 110 body or cliipie of men can control this 
organization. 

You can readily understand that it was difficult to 
start on a financial basis that would be sound. But out of 
a multitude of counsel there is wisdom; we started on u 
small basis of fo.OO for memberslnp, $50.00 for life member¬ 
ship, |2.00 annual dues, and fl.OO for associate delegates. 


At El Paso the Board of Directors realized that this insti¬ 
tution could not be supported on so small a basis, and 
brought up the question of amending the By-Laivs and 
placing it upon tlie basis of $15.00 for membership and 
$10.00 annual dues, and $100.00 for life membership. The 
question was debated iiro and con, and as ^mn realize, nec¬ 
essarily, those of you wlio have heretofore attended this 
body, that many times the membership or delegates who 
were there at one session^ would be almost entirely different 
at another session, and therefore they did not seem to com- 
jirehend the necessity of a higher initiation or membership 
fee, and the discussion was bringing on some feeling and 
bitterness, and I suggested to some of the Board of Direc¬ 
tors, ^M^et this matter drop. Bather than have any personal 
controversy over this matter now, we will call a special 
meeting, where members only are present, and will act upon 
it intelligently at that meeting.” Therefore we called a 
meeting to be held in Denver last May for that particular 
purpose, and this question was discussed pro and con, and 


10 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


almost uuanimouslv the By-LaAvs Avere amended so that 
noAv the membersliip fee is |15.00, annual dues flO.OO, and 
the life membership fee flOO.OO. So that is the present 
status. You Avill readily see that only members can vote 
upon those matters Avhicli pertain to the legal status of this 
body, such as electing Directors, etc. Delegates, Avho are 
not members, can participate in all of the. dejjjberations In 
the open sessions ])ertaining to the matters Avliich are un¬ 
der discussion by the Congress, on the same basis as mem¬ 
bers. We do not feel that it Avould be Avise to limit these 
discussions to members only, because, nlauA^ times, men 
Avho have not sutticient interest to become members, Avould 
have sufficient interest, in some of our important questions, 
to come as a delegate and present that question, and Ave 
Avaut the Avidest opening to receive anything that is good, 
and therefore Ave have adopted that system. 

Third, tAvo years ago, feeling that it Avas absolutely 
necessary that an organization of national cliaracter 
should liaA^e some permanent business headcpiarters, that 
it might not be required to move its Amluable records 
around and lose'them, as has l)een the case in the iiast, that 
question aaus ])resented and this city AAms selected as the 
permanent business headquarters of this organization. 
That does not mean, lioAveA cr, that you can not hold*your 
annual sessions in any place in the United States that is 
desired; in fact, it might be A^ery Avholesome to hold ses¬ 
sions in other places, as it giAV^s this body an opportunity ' 
to attract public attention to some particular locality that 
Avill bring out some particular idea aaTucIi is especially use¬ 
ful to mining. So that is open to this body, through its 
Board of Directors, by a recommendation of the members, 
to hold any session at such a point as you may deem best 
for this organization. 

Then you can understand further that besides these 
records that f)ught to be kept someAvhere, so that eA^eryone 
throughout the United States Avould kn'oAA^ Avhere they are, 
and knoAV the business headquarters of this Congress, that 
they might address the Secretary at any time, Ave haA^e fur¬ 
ther things that Ave Avant to accomplisli. We Avant a min¬ 
ing library, made u]) of scientific Avorks pertaining to min¬ 
ing, of general Avorks pertaining to mining, a legal librari' 
pertaining to mining, the best librar^^ in the Avorld on all 
mining subjects, Avhei'e a man can AA'rite to the Secretary 
and secure information u])on technical, general and legal 
(luestions pertaining to mining, and as it will be augmented 
in the future, such a library Avill become of great value and 


ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


11 


should have a periiiaueiit location. In addition to this, we 
have the hope, as the years ^o by, that we can i)lace in the 
headquarters of this Congress a mineral collection, scien- 
tific, general, and beautiful, thac will attract the attention 
of the world. Why not have the mining industry collect and 
have for use and examination by tliose who are interested, a 
splendid mineral collection that will .adequately represent 
the mining industry of America? When this question was 
hrst presented at lV)rtland, Oregon, an elderly gentleman, 
in fact tAvo of them, called upon me and said; ^^If you are 
going to establish a collection of that character, I have a 
collection that it has taken a lifetime to gather; it is in¬ 
valuable; but I am getting old, and I do not Avant it scat¬ 
tered; I want it left where it will be appreciated, and Avhere 
it will be useful, and I aaIU donate that collection for this 
Congress if you Avill care for it.’’ 8o said the other gen¬ 
tleman. 


And so I anticipate that there Avill be a magniticent col¬ 
lection here of that character AAdiich Avill be brought up 
from the past, and not aA' holly gathered in the future. That 
collection must be cared for, and ])reserved, and it Avill be 
augmented and aauII groAV Avith the mining industry and it 
Avill attract the attention of anA^ man avIio is interested in 

ty 

mining, or any of its allied industries who might be going 
across tliis continent, and Avho Avould stop over a day to 
see that magnihcent collection and Avhat it means. 

You can readil}^ understand that to carry out this Avork 
it will be necessary to have a mining building. We haA^e 
disagreed somewhat upon the theory of bringing that into 
a manifestation, but it seems to me that it can be accom¬ 
plished, and a building Avill be erected here in this beau¬ 
tiful city that Avill represent the ideal of mining, and Avhat 
it means to the American people. 

There have been two plans suggested and much dis¬ 
cussed by your Board of Directors; one is called the prac¬ 
tical plan, or business plan, and the other is called the sen¬ 
timental plan. The business plan, as I understand it, 
means that we should issue bonds under the name of this 
Congress, those bonds to be taken up by those Avho Avill, es- 
pecialh^ by members, and the money to be used to erect this 
structure and equip it. I think that about outlines what is 
termed the practical or business plan. 

The second plan represents this idea: That any man 
Avho contributes his money to an institution of this charac¬ 
ter is entitled to know that that money is dedicated for all 
future time to the purpose for which it is giATUi; that it 


12 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


can not be sold out under niortgajj;e or for taxes, but ibat 
it be perpetually consecrated to the purpose for which it 
was donated. 

I understand, and all of us do, that it is necessary to 
Inn^e money to erect a structure of this character. The 
question of hoAV soon it is to be erected is not so imiiortant 
as the character of the building that we will erect and the 
basis on which it is to be erected and preserved. You can 
see, under the sentimental idea, that it means that that 
plan be adopted which will erect a structure here that will 
be worthy of the name of a mining temple, dedicated to the 
mining industry for all future time. How shall we raise 
the money? I believe that there are American mining men 
who have been so bonntifully blessed by mining that they 
will realize their obligation to this great industry suffi¬ 
ciently, one or more of them, to contribute sufficient money 
to place here a temple that will be an ornament and useful 
to mining for all future years; and not only that, but they 
will furnish sufficient means to endow it so that it will be 
])reseryed in all its beauty, without mar or blemish, as the 
years go by, that they might know that the money contrib¬ 
uted by them was dedicated perpetually to that purpose 
without fear of its being turned aside from its beneficent 
object by foreclosure or taxation. You can readily under¬ 
stand that it will be necessary to have legislation, possibly, 
in this state to accomplish that purpose, that the title may 
be forever fixed, perhaps so that it will be free from taxa¬ 
tion, as it ought to be. 

Now it seems to me that the structure should be of 
the finest architectural type that could come from the great 
architectural geniuses of this age, beautiful in its adapta¬ 
tion to the purpose for which it is constructed, possessing 
in a marked degree the elements of durability, as it will rep¬ 
resent the elemept of durability that mineral has, as well 
as that which is ornamental, and it will attract tlie atten¬ 
tion of any man who gazes upon it, and make any man who 
is interested in mining realize that sentiment in mining has 
meaning just as much as it has in dollars. 

You take out of mining, or any great industry, the sen¬ 
timent that attaches to the human heart and you have 
taken from it its most valuable asset. As suggested this 
morning, it seems to me that if the great wealth with 
which this nation has been endowed in its mineral re¬ 
sources, is to be of any value to America in making this 
nation we love so much, enduring and respected and loved, 
it must be because that mineral wealth is used in develop- 


ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


13 


iug the highest order ot American citizenship and Ameri¬ 
can home life, which is our national foundation. 

Then I sa}^ it is not so much a matter of haste as it is 
a matter of planning, planning for the centuries which are 
to come that a jiride in the mining industry may be stimu¬ 
lated or inspired in every man who gazes upon that struc¬ 
ture and upon its equipment and upon its collection of use 
and beauty, so that he will be glad that he is a mining man, 
and that through mining we are developing the greatest 
manhood that the world has ever seen. 

Because there is something about mining that makes 
mining men generous and not little. They do not get their 
money by merely saving. Anybod}^ could do that. But 
they get it by wisdom of investment of time and talent and 
money and skill. That is what makes mining men great, 
because they have to do great things; therefore they must 
be men that are capable of thinking of gredt things; and 
therefore I sav these sentimental ideas that underlie our 


entire growth are the richest asset that belongs to the min¬ 
ing industry of our great country to-day, in my judgment. 
Therefore, I believe, as I have talked with some men of 
wealth, men who have succeeded in life in the business of 
mining, and men who have been thoughtful, that the money 
(|uestion for the purpose of erecting this mining temple, is 
the smallest part of it. But lay your plans and foundations 
wisely, legally and well, and then let men who have pros¬ 
pered so wonderfully in mining know what you want and it 
will be yours. I have lived long enough to learn this one 
lesson—"that while the American people are largely aiming 
in all their ambitions and efforts for money and wealth, 
that is a mere incident, because any mining man, be he 
young or old, wlien shown that he can handle great mining 
undertakings at a profit, does not need to stop and wonder 
whether he will be Avealthy or not; for wealth Avill be forced 
u]Aon him as a certainty. Tt is just like following the prin¬ 
ciple of mathematics, because if you folloAV the right prin¬ 
ciple you cannot avoid the fruitage of that principle. So 
in mining. Tf you folloAV the right ideas you need not be 
anxious about Avealth; that Avill come as a necessity. So in 
all departments of life. And so I say that is the thing that 
, troubles me the least. The thing that troubles me most, 
and Avhat I Avould like to impress upon you on this occa¬ 
sion, is that we need your hearty cooperation upon this idea 
and at least your moral sup])ort. If I can inspire you Avith 
the one idea that underneath this great organization, as it 
Avill be, and behind this great structure and Avhat it Avill 



14 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


represent, there is a most mighty impulse* lor good to miu- 
ing and mining men, then I know yon are willing to give 
it your encouragement and support. So I say that it is the 
sentimental idea underlying this which means the most to 
you and me. 

Fourth. There is another thought that 1 would like 
to develop, and that is this: The greatest and most force¬ 
ful principle to-day in all the industrial upbuilding of our 
country is the idea—or principle, if you jilease to call it 
that—of cooperation. Nations in former times, as history 
reveals, undertook to upbuild and stand upon the destruc¬ 
tion of their neighbors. AA^ar and its victories were suit- 
posed to be the culminating, crowning glories of national 
life. Murder was taken as the basis of victory. This con¬ 
ception is false in every sense, as nations are beginning to 
learn, and as nations learn it they Avill impress more and 
more the idea oil the people, that no business man ought to 
expect to succeed and make his life Avork a suc(*ess on the 
idea of the destruction of his neighbor, but by cooperating 
Avith him. That is the correct theory on Avhich this nation 
must be builded if it is to be enduring. The form under 
Avhich the great industrial uplift of this nation, Avhich has 
brought it in such bold relief before the other nations of the 
Avorld, must be developed, is the corporate idea, Avhich is a 
form of cooperation of capital, intellect and labor. That is 
the principle upon Avhich Avhat Ave might term the profit¬ 
making form of cooperation is based in this nation. And if 
there is any nation on earth blessed by that form of coop¬ 
eration, it is the American nation. The other nations of 
the world simply stand aghast at our achievements; they 
have become so vast that no indmdual Avould undertake 
to construct, equip and operate am^ of the great transcon¬ 
tinental railroads or any of our other great enterprises that 
have become too great for any one man to handle, and 
therefore it is through that theory of cooperation that they 
are building greater than they knoAv. It is true that to 
some extent the fair fame of our country has been tar¬ 
nished, not by the idea of cooperation or corporation, but 
by the dishonesty and unfairness Avith Avhich it has been 
attempted to apply that idea. It is true that this nation 
has been honored by the majority of the great corporations 
of our land, but underneath some of them there has been 
hidden for vears that which has been recentlv brought to 
light, that has almost alarmed the lovers of this country. 
But the American people are strong enough and great 
enough, and so is this government, to make every corpora- 


/ 


ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT 


15 


tioii recognize that the government of the United States 
is the nltiinate power tliat will rule in this land. The 
trouble is that those men have sort of built up a busi¬ 
ness moral code wldcli lacks all the vitality of the old moral 
code. They seem to believe that those ideas are right; 
they do things as the re])resentativ(^s of corporations which 
they never would do as individuals. ^\.nd so you see we 
have a code of legal morals growing up in our business com- 
niunity and a code of morals growing up among us as indi¬ 
viduals. Now, it seems to me the time has come when we 
must have that form of cooperation Avhich will teach these 
business men that that is not t he Avay to succeed in business 
and make this nation great, and I contend that every man 
and every set of men who represent this great idea and are 
doing so much for themselves and our country must remem¬ 
ber that the great American })eople have an interest in 
those things and have a right to inquire upon what basis 
they are conducting those great corporations. And to im¬ 
press that idea upon these business men,' you see another 
form of cooperation coming out all over this western coun¬ 
try, as represented by the American Mining Congress, the 
National Irrigation Congress, ^the Trans-lNrississippi Con¬ 
gress, the Beeing America Congress and these other forms 
of cooperation. What is underneath those great ideas and 
those meetings? Absolute integrity of purpose. And they 
are trying to bring out and give expression to that high 
ideal of trulv moral and enduring forms of conducting busi- 
ness. This Congress was organized upon that theory. That 
as the re])resentative of tln^ mine owner, the miner and all 
of those allied industries on behalf of the American people, 
it had a right to see, as far as its influence could be brought 
to bear, that the best that Avas in mining should be brought 
out. And that is one of its ])urposes and aims. You will 
1‘eadily understand that when this question of the relation 
betAveen the miner or the shi])per and the smelter arose, 
Avith the authority of the board, T simply said that those' 
mine OAvners and shi])pers had a right to be heard in this 
organization. I said that the same right must be ex¬ 
tended to those men who re])resented the other side 
of this question, because, as I hnd, there are ahvays tAvo 
sides to these great (]uestions and Ave are just as much in¬ 
terested as an organization in uy)holding the smelter in¬ 
terests if they are right as Ave are in upholding the shipping 
interests if they are right; or, if they are Avrong, in con¬ 
demning them on either side. Bo T believe Ave are opening 
an opportunity Avhere the miner, the shipper and the smel- 


V 


(. 


16 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


ter and other allied industries can come here and, if they 
are right, they Avill hnd we will suiiport them and sustain 
them in that right course, and if they are wrong, Ave Avill 
compel them to correct that Avrong; and it is upon that 
theory, and recognizing that fact, that this question 
AA'ill be presented for your considerjitioii. As I under¬ 
stand it, the smelter interests liaA^e met us upon the same 
honorable terms that Ave liaA e suggested. That indicates 
that AA^e are going to Iuia e a Aery interesting (piestion dis¬ 
cussed on a manly, fair basis. Noaa^, upon this theory, it 
seems to me that this Congress can liaA e a mighty influence. 

hifth. It does seem to me that this nation must be built 
upon the idea of industry and not AAUir. The American gov- 
vUmment ought to cooperate AAuth the miner in bringing 
about these higher ideas, which mean better citizenship and 
better business methods. We scarcely realize what it means 
to-day, where eAwy impulse of the great business undertak¬ 
ings seems to be the almighty dollar, AA^hen it seems that eA- 
ery political impulse of what aa'g call our great men is the al¬ 
mighty dollar; that underneath it all- is the great impulse 
that should be brought to light and that should dominate 
in all these things, and that is that AAdiich brings out the 
best in American manhood and American Avomanhood. It 
seems to me that the time has come aa hen men should real¬ 
ize that this nation must be enduring and great because 


it is an industrial nation, because Ave are using AAusely that 
AAdiich nature has giA^en us to bring to this country its 
croAAming glory, its splendid manhood and AA omanhood, and 
out of that a croAAuiing statesmanship, constructiA^e in its 
basis and in its purposes, and not selfish and destructAe. 
So it does seem to me that if this nation is to be great as an 
industrial nation, the gOA’^ernment should liaAe a part in 
Ihis cooperation in order that stability be giA^en to all in¬ 
dustrial enterprise, and that AA-e should not liaA^e a great 
upheaAml of industrial prosperity to-day and depression to- 
morroAA^, AA^hen men are ruined in a year, and the country 
is disheartened and discouraged. These things are not e\i- 
dence of the AAusdom of our American policy, but of lack 
of AAusdom,—these mighty de]u*essions such as took ])lace 
in 1893'. If we had used the right kind of AAdsdom in this 
country that deAmstating episode Avould iieA^er luiA^e oc¬ 
curred in this land, and it should not occur again, and it 
neA^er would if our business aauas conducted upon the right 
theory. And if business men aaAio are so engrossed in mak¬ 
ing money and making a success out of their enterprises, 
which is commendable, cannot find time to see these things. 




ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


17 


then we should organize in a manner to ealhthem to their 
attention, and when we do yon will find they are big enough 
to heed it. I find, in talking with these men, who seem so 
absorbed in their mighty undertakings that tliey forget the 
morality upon which tlijpy should be based, that Avhen you 
call their attention to it they say, ^‘Yes, you are right,'’ and 
these great railroad magnates, who are such splendid evi¬ 
dence of American manhood to-day, and are so imporLant 
a factor in the upbuilding of the country, realize that the 
entering Avedge of saving them from themselves Avas that 
rate bill passed in Congress in the last session. Those men 
are beginning to realize that they Avere going crazy, almost, 
on the Avrong theory and needed to be brought back to a 
realization of AAdiat they AA ere doing. They realize to-day 
that they are prosiiering as they liaA^e neAu^r prospered be¬ 
fore, and it Avill eA^er be so Avhen men act on the right 
theory, and aa hen AA^e coo])erate together. Xo man Avants 
any corporation or organization to fail to receive all the 
legitimate profits that belong to it. Ts it not a splendid 
thing Avhen you see such magnificent men as James J. Hill 
and see that through his mightA^ (uiergw and intellect he 
has filled the XortliAvest Avith a home life that in the hours 
of danger, perhaps, Avill be the salvation of our country 
in years yet to come? Ts it not splendid to see that great 
character go into the Trans-Mississippi Congress and warn 
the people of this country of its danger that he sees through 
his thought and experience? Why not liaA^e great mining 
men, great railroad men and great manufacturers go into 
these (‘ongresses and tell us frankh" Avhat theA’ have learned 


from their experience and thought on tliese great ques¬ 
tions, and help to guide us aright in our great national and 
industrial life? Those men are great, but they AA^ould be' 
greater if they would add that one element to their pres¬ 
ent greatness. They oAve it to the American people, those 
men avIio have made those magnificent fortunes as a result 
of their intellect and energy, because of the bounties that 
have been hea|)ed upon them, to come out on these great 
({uestions and help the American people to free themselA^es 
from these blunders that maA^ canw us down into other 
])eriods of great depression in business and finance. They 
oAve this to themselves and to these great institutions which 
they represent, and this organization has been organized 
to see if it could not get the cooperation of the American 
gOA^ernnient to ]dace in this great industrial, Avhirling busi¬ 
ness life, that element of stability and true morality and 
integrity which Avill uiakg our industrial life enduring and 


18 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Avill add tlie grandest luster to tills nation that lias ever 
been dreamed of by the most ardent lovers of our country. 
Then we contend that Ave have a riglit as the repre¬ 
sentatives of one of the •greatest industries in this coun¬ 
try to call attention to this lack of cooperation—be¬ 
cause all of the real enduring material Avcailth of your na¬ 
tion comes from niiniug; Avhen Amu exhaust your mines 
ntA’er can replace them, they are gone forever. I contend 
that this is true—that the American people have in the 
great coal mines of this nation an absolute interest, not- 
Avithstanding the legal title may stand in some individual 
or corporation. They have this interest, they have a right- 
to knoAV that that great coal bed Avill not be wasted, that 
it Avill be used for the benefit of the industries of this coun¬ 
try and the American people. I have read from unques¬ 
tioned authoritA^ that in some of the great coal mines of 


this nation there is a terrible waste going on. TheA- liaAm 
smaller Amins, abundantly large enough to Avork, but mit 
so good a grade as those tliat lie beneath, and they Avill 
mine out that which is best below, allowing the smaller 
veins to be caved in and destroAed foreAmr. You ha Am an 
interest as American citizens, to knoAA^ that everything 
in those mines that can be legitimateh" used should 
be used by the American people now or preserved for the 
future. And as Aaui go doAvn these great ValleAm in the East 
and in the West von see being hurled out into the glare of 
the midnight a mighty Avaste in our great coke ovens, eipial 
to three million horse iioAver, continually pulling, per an¬ 
num, e(|ual to the great Xiagara, absolutely Avasted upon 
the night air. Have Ave no interest in such things? Ts it 
not possible that if the government Avould cooperate, it 
Avould help conserve and save and use those great forces 
to better advantage? Shall Ave go on and Avaste that 
colossal heritage Avhi(‘h ought to be used—and science can 
tell us hoAA' to use it? You have enormous interest in your 
great forests. The government begins to recognize that it 
must take yiart in preserving to the American peo])le lhat 
increment in the great American forests, that they must 
lireserve it for use in the industries of onr country. Tliey 
haAm the same interest in the iron and coal and lead mines 
and all the other mines, to see that the best use shall be 
made of tliat great heritage Avhich, once used, is destroyed 
and gone forever. Agriculture maA’^ renew itself from a ear 
to year, but mining never. And if there is any one duty 
that the American government owes to the American ])eo- 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


19 


pie, it is to see tliat tliat mi<>lity heritage is preserved as 
far as possible for the use of the American peoiile. 

Xow, this same idea of waste has been going on in our 
business methods. When I was a bo}^, every merchant 
thought he had to succeed by competing Avith and destroy- 
underbidding, his neighbo]*. You remember during 
the days of Jay Gould Avhat destructiA^e methods they used 
in railroad mani])ulation. Kailroads competed by under¬ 
bidding and underbidding until eacli destiwed the other, 
to the detriment of the American people as Well as them¬ 
selves. Those things dishonor a great nation as ^ye\l as the 
men Avho conduct them. And it seems to me that this gOA"- 
erument has a right and has an interest and has a dutv to 
perform, in these matters, to see that Ave do not rest upon 
tliat old destructive competitive basis but upon a construct¬ 
ive basis. Many people say Ave ought to have the old time 
competition, but that means destruction of your neighbor. 
Tliat is not right, in my judgment. But Ave should build up 
a constructiA^e business theory and let competition rest 
upon the element of serA'ice ratlier than destroy your cxan- 
petitor. Then by that idea of service you bring out the best 
in your management as Avell as in your manhood and give 
the American peojile the best that American genius can 
give them. So Ave Avant constructive business methods as 
Avell as constructive statesmanshi]) in this country, and 
upon'that theory Ave claim Ave have a right to ask the gov¬ 
ernment of these United States to cooperate Avith us by 
creating a Department of Mining that should be ])resided 
over by the greatest mining genius of this age, aaJio Avould 
be creative in his poAvers and not Avork along the line of 
bureaus and tributaries. He should not be a tributary to 
the river, but he should be able to create a river of public 
sentiment in all that is best in American manhood and citi¬ 
zenship and industrial life. Upon that theory Ave claim this 
government should create a Department of Mining and 
then place at its head the greatest mining character in this 
nation, a man Avho has proven that he is Avorthy of that 
great honor. And, therefore, it seems to me that this Con¬ 
gress must render a mighty service to the American peo])le, 
its industrial life as Avell as our government, in bringing 
out that Avhich is best in our industrial upbuilding. 

Sixth. Another thing which will be of value to you as 
mining men as the years go by is to meet annually at these 
sessions the best mining thought and tli'e best mining man¬ 
hood of this country. T AVould not exchange some of the 
friendships I ha\^e formed through my connection Avith this 


20 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Congress for all the money this nation could heap upon any 
man. That kind of wealth is endiiring, joyous and delight¬ 
ful, and helps to bring out of me that which is best; and it 
would bring out of you that which would give you more sat¬ 
isfaction, through the friendships that you Avill form for the 
great manhood that is represented by American mining if 
we attract them to our midst and meet them year after year 
and hear their splendid thoughts, shake their magnetic 
hands and realize what a splendid manhood is represented 
by the American mining industry. 

I have briefly told you my theory upon which this 
American Mining Congress can be conducted; I leave it 
with you to say whether you can help to carry it out upon 
" that theory, and I ask you at this session to select in my 
stead some one more capable of carrying on this great work, 
because it seems to me that I have about reached my limita¬ 
tions in the work I can do, because of lack of leisure, lack 
' of mone}", lack of experience, and I feel that other men, 
more fully equipped, can do-more than I can for this Con¬ 
gress. I have endeavored to inspire every man who has 
come in touch with me Avith this idea—that so far as this 
Congress is concerned Ave never should think of self for one 
moment. One man said to me yesterday, ‘AAe Avant you to 
serve again because perhaps it will help you in a business 
Avay and perhaps politically.’^ I said, ^^Don’t talk to me in 
that way. I refuse to discuss those things upon that theory. 
If you Avill tell me that this Congress will be greater in its 
usefulness because I remain at its head, you may command 
me, but upon no other theory.” 

I hope I have impressed upon you Avhat I term the sen¬ 
timental side of this Congress. I AA^ould like to talk Avith 
you two hours, because there is meat in it if I could, but it 
seems to me you understand the purpose of your Board of 
Directors, and I ask you to consider these questions in all 
seriousness that the world may know from noAV on that 
this Congress is a dignified, manly body that is going to 
see that justice will be done as far as Ave are able to do it, 
and that we may inspire the enactment of those laAvs that 
will increase the confidence of the American people in the 
mining industry, because it is one—I will say perhaps not 
a great investment industry, but it is the greatest legiti¬ 
mate speculative industry that the Avorld has ever seen, and 
Ave have a right to bring that to the attention of the Amer¬ 
ican people so that they will understand it, as in all busi¬ 
ness ventures there is that element of speculation, but in 
mining success is more certain than in aiiA' other industiw 



ANNUAL ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT. 


21 


that I know of iu tliis country. And it is a legitimate busi- 

ij 


ness nndertakinj»’ 


Look at the great coal and iron and 


lead and silver mines. Do they not represent a mighty busi¬ 
ness speculation on legitimate lines? And it is an industry 
that brings out the strongest Unit is in our American man¬ 
hood, and upon that theory,! am entitled to speak through 
you to the American people with Avhat little power I have 
and to say that underneath this mining industry is the most 
enduring force that is to make this nation great, loved at 
home and respected and feared abroad, of any element in 
our great national material ivealth, and I ask you in all 
your discussions to try to bring out those ideas, always 


leaving out personalities. On the train coming here the 
other day, one of the leading lawyers of this city was telling 
Tue what a magnificent debate they had at the Democratic 
convention, but when he told me what that debate consisted 
of, I said, “Can you show me one element in that debate 
that brought out of the great Democratic party one element 
of greatness or inspired one man with a great purpose for 
the future? Was it not all xiersonal and selfish?’’ He said, 
hi humiliation, must admit that.” But, if we cam place 
our industrial life upon the right basis, our political life 
will come out of that, and out of this industrial life will 
come great human characters that are worthy of the great 
American nation, and not only states but nations, and not 
nnly this nation, but nations the world over will have an 
interest in the great achievements of the great characters 
that are developed, to the true and lasting glory of the 
4merican people. 

I thank von for vour consideration. 

• * 


/ 



The Development of the Metal Mining Industry in the 

Western States 

■ 1 


BY WALDEMAR LINDGREN. 


It seems presiimptuons for anyone to take up a subject 
like tlie one outlined in the title to this paper and attempt 
to treat it within the cramped frame of a short article. The 
develoi)ment of metal mining in the Avestern states is really 
a story of the gold and silt^er mining of the United States, 
worthy of the genius of a historian—a magnificent drama 
of human endeat^or full of romance and tragedy, of pathos 
and even of humor—a story of the Amliant struggle of a 
race of pioneers to conquer wilderness. And this drama 
has been enacted in a worthy and eA^er-changing scene set¬ 


ting; from the Aune-clad foothills of the Sierras it reaches 
to the sage brnsli plains of Noa ada and to the crests of the 
Ivocky mountains. From the tundras of Cape Nome it 
changes to Coeur d'Alene’s forests and to Arizona deserts 
Avhere the mirage i)lays Avitli purple mountain ranges. 

Perhaps the most aa onderful fact of this drama is that 
the main part of it has been enacted Avithin the memory and 
experience of men uoaa^ liAung—Avithin the short space of 
tifty-eight years. There Avas a prelude to it, lioAveyer: 
\Miere the northern-most AvaAes of Spanish ciAulization 
broke against the ranges of NeAV ^lexico dim records exist 
of gold, silA^er and copper mining as far back as the sev¬ 
enteenth centuiw. And much more recenth^—in 1828, and 
folloAving years—gold Avas Avashed by Noav Mexican placer 
miners in the Ortiz and San Pedro mountains; almost sim¬ 
ultaneously Avith the beginning of the gold mining industry 
of Georgia and the Carolinas. 


The First Epoch of Placer Mining. 

Western metal mining began by the application of the 
easiest ^of metallurgical processes, that of washing gold 
from graA^el. This first epoch, that of placer mining, was 
initiated when Marshall discoA^ered the yelloAV nuggets in 
his millrace at Coloma, Eldorado county, California, early 
in 1848. We know the stirring story of the mad race to the 
gold fields, of the treasures Avon, and of the foundations laid 
for an Anglo-Saxon civilization on the Pacific coast. The 
hrst decade Avas pretty fully occupied by gulch and river 
mining. In the second decade tAVo important meth- 






METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


23 


Oils of milling ivere developed. By hydraulic min¬ 
ing, carried on in California on a scale never equaled else¬ 
where, whole mountains were ivashed away and gold to the 
amount of a few cents per cubic yard saved with profit. By 
drift mining, the gold stored in the bedrock channels of the 
old Tertiary rivers was extracted by means of long tunnels 
underneath gravel and lava cap, in which quicksand and 
water often were tlie enemies which had to be conquered. 
Both methods of mining are, of course, still practiced, and, 
transplanted by California miners, flourish in other states, 
but their glory began to wane towards the end of the ’70s. 

Up to 1850 the gold production had been chiefly con¬ 
fined to California, but the following decade witnessed the 
first attack on the Cordilleran wilderness between Califor¬ 
nia and Oregon. Brave bands of prospectors opened a score 
of new gold fields from which vstreams of gold flowed to add 
to the declining production in California. This was the 
time of Auburn and Canvon Citv in Oregon; Florence, Elk 
City, Warren, Oro Fino and the Boise Basin in Idaho; Alder 
Gulch, Confederate Gulcli and Last Chance in Montana; 
and Clear Creek and California Gulch in Colorado. All of 
these placer camps flourished in the earh^ ’60s, but except¬ 
ing the Boise Basin, most of thehi were short-lived, and 
were eventually turned over to the patient Chinaman, who 
for many years extracted treasure from the abandoned dig¬ 
gings which should rather have been reserved for men of 
our own race. 

The gradual fading of the epoch of placer mining was 
marked by a decrease of gold production from sixty million 
in the eaily ’50s to a minimum of thirty million 
about 1883. Of a second epoch of placer mining we shall 
speak later. 

Early Epoch of Gold-Quartz Mining. 

Gold-quartz mining followed closely on the heels of 
placer mining, but here arose an entirel}^ different and 
much more complicated ])roblem, which first the talent of 
the Southern Appalachians, then that of Europe was 
called upon to solve. The mistakes were many and griev¬ 
ous; the ores below the water level proved a special stumb¬ 
ling block, and it was not until from 1870 to 1880 that the 
industiw was ifiaced ui)on a firm footing. In California 
this was accomplished by breaking away from European 
practice by the invention of the 1000-pound, iron-stemmed 
stamp, the broad amalgamation table and the Frue vanner, 
and last, but not least, by the application of Plattner’s chlo¬ 
rination process to the concentrates. 


24 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


In Gilpin comity, Colorado, slightly difterent processes 
were adopted. Few of the other placer districts of Avhich 
mention was made above proved rich in gold (piartz veins, 
and this industry, though important, failed to prevent the 
gradual decline of the gold production. But men were now 
available who understood the simpler problems of mining 
and of amalgamation. 

The Epoch of Silver Mininp. 

The search of the wilderness of the 'bOs was rewarded 
by the discovery of thonsamls of deposits, from Montana 
to Arizona. But most of them Avere not of the familiar 
type of gold quartz A'eins. Tliey contained strange min¬ 
erals, black or broAvn masses, Avhich turned to sih^er in the 
forge, glittering galena, golden chalcopyrite and deceptiA^e 
blackjack—all of them nnkuoAvn and most of them Avorth- 
less to the pioneer far from lines of communication. The 
silver ores seemed most promising; to these the miner 
turned his attention, and so began the third great epoch— 
that of silver mining. 

This neAV industry was born in NeAada about 1860, 
though it did not reach its maximum until many years 
later. Tiiscarora, Austin, Boclie and, greatest of all, Vir¬ 
ginia City, Avhat memories do not these names bring back 
to the old miner? To the north, in Idaho, flourished the 
OAvyhee mines, the Custer and the Atlanta districts; to the 
south many a cani]3 in the MohaA^e desert and in Arizona. 
Confronted by iieAv conditions, the engineer Avas forced to 
develop ueAv processes. It is impossible to over-estimate 
the importance of the Comstock as a school for mining— 
really the first characteristically American school in the 
West. Timbering by square sets to remove large and rich 
ore bodies, modern hoisting and pumpiiig engines, deep 
sinking, the fight against the subterranean heat, all these 
made the Comstock a Mecca for mining men thirsting for 
knowledge. Another important step forAvard taken about 
this time was the substitution of dAmamite for the ordinaiw 
black poAvder and poAver drills for hand drilling. The pan 
amalgamation process—Avith or Avithont roasting—and the 
roasting and leaching process, if not neAV in principle, Avere 
developed to suit local conditions. 

From the palmy days of Nevada in the ’TOs sih^er mill¬ 
ing steadily declined until at the present time it is a rarity 
to hear the dull roar of the mullers in the iron pans. But 
in spite of the enormous production of the Comstock, it 
Avas not the silver milling of dry ores that glutted the mar- 




METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


25 


ket; it was the stream of the white metal pouring* from 
the smelting Avorks. 

In historic Gilpin comity the smelting industry started 
in 1868, modestly enough in its beginning and giving little 
evidence of the gigantic proportions it was to assume some 
thirty years later. It Avas found that the despised sulphide 
ores contained copper and lead which could be made useful 
in collecting the silver and the gold not only in these, but 
in rebellious dry ores. Our teachers in copper smelting 
were Welshmen, Avhile Germans instructed us in the reduc¬ 
tion of the lead ores. An ever increasing stream of smelt¬ 
ing ores found their Avay to the ready maAv of the reverber- 
atoriespr blast furnaces. In the ^TOs several smelters Avere 
operating in Colorado and the sih^er-lead mines at Eureka, 
Nevada, Avere producing richly. Soon Montana and Ari¬ 
zona established smelters and from these times to the pres¬ 
ent day the history of smelting is one of almost continuous 
progress, during AA^hich our European teachers eventually 
Avere left behind. WhoeA^er Avas the iiiA^entor of the water 
jacket furnace, it is certain that the principle was first ap¬ 
plied on a large scale in the Ignited States. The small 
Avater jacket furnace Avas evolved and thought for a time 
to be a panacea against all evils; every mine Avith smelting 
ore must have one. Smelting Avorks multiplied rapidly, 
but alas, the small furnace proved an adept in ^Treezing 
up’^ and many a company came to grief on account of it. 
About 1878 the Leadville smelting ores Avere discovered 
underneath the placers of California Gulch and the Colo¬ 
rado silA^er production doubled in a year. Aspen soon 
added its masses of argentiferous lead, polybasite and na¬ 
tive silver. Idaho contributed heavily from the rich smelt- 
ing ore of the Wood Iliver district. Treasures poured in 
from Ihirk CitAn Utah. Tons of almost solid horn silver 

♦ 7 

Avere mined at Lake Valley, New Mexico, betAveen the raids 
of the Apaches. Steadily the silver output rose and equally 
steadily the price sank. The maximum of production of 
03,500,000 ounces was attained in 1892, since Avhicli time 
the annual yield has averaged 55,000,000 ounces, but the 
decline in price Avas not checked until ten years later Avhen 
the record read 47 cents. Nearly one-half of our present 
output is a by-product obtained from smelting of very Ioav 
grade copper and lead ores. 

The last chapter of the remarkable story of silver is 
familiar to us. Eapidly rising, the price has attained 70 
cents, a. fact which may seem surprising, but which is 
reallA* ouIa" the logical outcome of lately preAmiling condi- 


2C 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


tioiis. The silver miners Avlll respond to the demand—- 
their ability to do so is scarcely to be doubted—and we may 
stand at the beginning' of a second epoch of silver mining. 

Development of Ore Concentration. 

And now we come to another branch of the mining in¬ 
dustry—that of concentration. The gold mills had long 
practiced a more oi’ less crude concentration following 
amalgamation, but even after the introduction of the van- 
ners it left much to desire. Concentration is most closely 
connected with smelting and the rise of the two arts was 
simultaneous. AVe followed the patterns of Europe which 
had been brought to great i)erfection, but perhaps they 
were followed less aptly than in other branches of the in¬ 
dustry. The treatment of great bulks of low grade copper 
and lead ores finally forced an improvement, and the great 
])rinciples of classification and sorting laid down long ago 
by Rittinger are now scientifically developed and applied. 

Condition of Mining Industry Tiventy-Tliree Years Ago. 

Let us now, just for comparison, glance back at the con¬ 
dition of the western country about 1883: California 
ground out and washed a decreasing amount of gold, still 
the proud leader in the field. Nevada’s smelters and mills 
were decaying. Arizona produced a fair amount of silver 
from the Tombstone, Silver King and other districts, but 
the copper industry was in its veriest infancy at Globe, Clif¬ 
ton and Bisbee, while United Verde was unknown. Colo¬ 
rado was a redeeming feature as to silver and .lead. True, 
its gold production was small, but it Avas braA^ely held by 
old Gilpin county. Cripple Greek and Creede Avere cattle 
pastures. In the San Juan country, only discoA^ered a de¬ 
cade earlier, some silver Avas laboriously and expensively 
produced, with gold as a by-product, Avhile at the present 
day its magnificent mines annually furnish the AA^orld Avith 
some five million dollars in gold. ' 

Utah had its Park City, Horn Silver mine, and Tintic, 
but who dreamed of a great copper industry to rise in the 
dull camp of Bingham, and the Mercur ores lay unheeded 
underneath their blanket of limestone. 

In Montana much silver mining Avas going on. The 
lead smelters Avere active and some sih^er-gold mills AA^ere 
in operation. The first Anaconda smelter Avith its wasteful 
concentration and its roAvs of AA^elsh reverberatories was 
planned; the possibility of Butte turning into an important 
copper camp Avas seriously discussed. 




METAL. MININCJ IN WESTERN STATES. 


27 


In Idaho prospectors were just trencliiug tlie Coeiir 
d’Alene outcrops after the AvikI inidAvinter rush to the Mur¬ 
ray ^old field. 

As to Alaska, that territory slumbered through Arctic 
storms and midnight sunshine; nobody suspected Avdiat 
Avould happen on Douglas Island, at Gape Nome or on the 
Tauana, twentA^ A^ears later. 


The Second Epoch of Gohl Mining. 

The Avorld aa oke u])—tiguratiAmly speaking—one morn¬ 
ing in the early ’80s and found itself decidedly short of 
gold; as many knoAA^, this is a disagreeable feeling. The 
TTnited States had barely ])roduced thirty million dollars 
•in the last year. Idealizing that gold was AAmnted, miners 
and metallurgists set about to remedy the deficit and the 
army of gold enthusiasts rapidly increased. Sih'^er is dead, 
long lixe gold, aa ^s the cry, and behold, the search for gold 
proA'ed easier than expected. In the last decade of the past 
(‘entury the gold production rose especially rapidly; from 
1893 to 1900 it more than doubled. 

This condition of affairs was partly due to the engi¬ 
neers, but largely to the prospectors. The early ’90s suaa" 
some AA 011(1 erful technical improAmments. First among 
them’is the cyanide process, the practical ai)plication of an 
old, half forgotten fact that gold is soluble in cyanide of 
potassium. Its importance can not be oA^er-stateci. DeA^el- 
oping rapidly, it is to-day an art in itself, providing a chea]) 
method for the reduction of many gold and gold-sihmr ores 
formerly yielding only partially to pan amalgamation. But 
most important of all, it proAuded ready means of extract¬ 
ing the gold from the tailings of the amalgamation and con¬ 
centration mills, intractable masses Avhich had piled up in 
reproachful heaps or guiltily escaped doAAUi stream. The 
perfection of the barrel chlorination process, by AAdiich it 
became a formidable rival of the cyanide process, also be¬ 
longs to this epoch. 

About this time ekydricity applied to mining came 
upon the serene. Pnm])s and hoists and mills could now be 
(IriAmn at reasonable cost from distant waterfalls or coal 
fields. jMining methods improA^ed and new Avays of ex¬ 
tracting great ore bodies, such as the filling and caving sys¬ 
tems, often replaced the expensive square setting. The in- 

Amntion of the so-called babA^ drills Avhich could be used in 

• 

stopes, Avas another notable step forAAmrd. When steam 
Avas used compound engines replaced AAUisteful single (^ylin- 
d(U's—tlie catalogue of improA^ements could be easily ex- 


I 


28 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

teiided. As a ('oiise(]ueiiee of aJl tliis, liiindreds of deposits 
al)aiidone<l bv tlie early miners at water level were re- 
opened and made productive. 

Bnt with all, this would not have doubled the ])rodiic- 
tion. The second factor was the jvrospector avIio soon suc¬ 
ceeded in demonstrating’ the fallacy of the belief that all 
the gold deposits of this country were* known. In Cripple 
Creek—foremost of all—in the Black Hills, and in the 
many recently discovered rich districts of Nevada, we see , 
the result of his work. 

The Second Epoch of Placer Mining. 

The third factor is what may be called the revival of 
placer mining. Since 1897 the old scenes of 1849 have been 
re-enacted with modern modifications in Alaska, raising the 
])lacer production of the territoiw to about twelve million 
dollars in 1905. NeAV conditions liaA^e brought new inven¬ 
tions in placer mining—among these Ave may especially 
mention the mining of frozen gronnd by steam. Nor can 
.it be said AAdth assurance that the epoch of discoA^eries in 
Alaska is past; that frosty territory may liaA^e further sur¬ 
prises in store for ns. MeauAvliile another iiiA^ention—the 
gold dredge—began to add to the production of the old dig¬ 
gings in California and elseAvhere. In 1904 California ])ro- 
dnced OA^er two million dollars from this source. Neverthe¬ 
less the dredge and the dredging deposits have their limita¬ 
tions and the yield from this source Avill not proA-e beyond 
calculation. 

From 1900 to 1904 the gold production remained sta¬ 
tionary except for a decided decline iml903. But 1905 suav 
a sharp increase to about (‘ighty-seven million dollars, and 
it is more than probable that the present year Avill recoiMl a 
still higher notch. 

Will the gold jiroduction soon reach the hundred mil¬ 
lion mark? Who can say it aa ill not Avhile the pioneers are 
still exploring Alaska and Avhile the gold camps are multi¬ 
plying in NeA\ada? But one fact that should be borne in * 
mind by the enthusiasts Avho ])redict a flood of gold is that 
the heavy increases do not, as a rule, come from the old 
camps, but from the neAV discoveries. NeAv ore bodies Avill 
alAvays be o])ened, but, be sure of it, iieAV camps Avill not 

alAvaA’s be discoA^ered at tlie recent rate. 

* • 

The Pcvelopment of the Base Metal Mining indn.slriei^. 

Tlie interests of good mining are not uIaauia’s served bv 
the finding of rich ore. True jirogress iu the art is more 
apt to be recorded iu the low grade mines, especially those 






METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


29 


contaiiiiug copper and lead wliere small economies may 
make the difference between profit and loss, and so it comes 
that the best practice and the most modern inventions ma}^ 
be found in onr base metal mines. 

Previous to 1880 the West yielded less than a fifth of 
onr total copper production—small as it Avas—and That 
fifth was really only smelted for its ])roperty of collecting 
gold and sih^er. The copper prodnction of tlie AA'Cstern 
states has groAvn from 5,000 tons in 1880 to about 300,000 
tons in 1906, and it lias doubled since 1893. A flood of cop- 
])er is coming from Arizona and Montana, and in its pro¬ 
duction all the resources of modern mining and smelting 
are employed. Comjiare, if yon Avill, the concentration 
mills and giant blast furnaces, the converting plants, the 
electrolytic refineries, in short, the industry based on a tAvo 
or three per cent, ore Avith the laborious roasting, smelting, 
re-smelting and refining of the fifteen per cent, ore of 
twenty years ago. The leaching of copper ores, of Avhich 
much Avas expected, remains a subordinate process. The 
Avorld’s appetite for copper is growing at a rate Avhich is 
difficult for the producer to follow. In spite of the incen- 
tiA^e of sensational increases in jirice, the present outlook is 
not faAmrable to the increase of prodnction at the rate of 
the last ten years. The copper industry still maintains a 
healthy independence, the output being scattered among 
a considerable number of producers. The Avestern industry 
centers, as is AA-ell knoAvn, in Arizona and Montana, but 
Utah, Alaska and California may soon become their rivals. 

The lead industry, whose western centers are located 
in Colorado, Utah .and Idaho, has progressed in a similar 
way. In 1880 only about 80,000 tons of lead Avas contrib¬ 
uted by the West; in 1904 the amount had grown to 220,000 
tons, but the prodnction has failed to advance at the same 
rate as the copper output. Less conspicuous are also the 
improvements in mining and smelting. It may be doubted 
whether the lead resources of the western states are equal 
to keep up the present rate of increase, although the price 
of lead has recently left its time-honored position at 4 cents 
per pound and moved up near 6. The most notable CA^ent 
in this indiistrv is its recent consolidation into the hands 

t' 

of one strong corporation which practically controls the 
output and the price. 

The year 1903 witnessed the beginning of the zinc min¬ 
ing industry in the Cordilleran states, and in three years the 
once-anathemized zinc ores AA'Ore turned into unexpected 
sources of reA^enne. It is not difficult to predict a wonder- 



PROCIOEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 




fill future for tliis industry, tlie techni(|ue of Avliich is yet 
ill its infancy. Chief among the problems is tlie separation 
of zinc blende from pyrites and chalcopyrite; this Avill per¬ 
haps be effected by the new electromagnetic and electro¬ 
static machines. Another problem is the utilization of the 
precious metals contained in the zinc ores. At present they 
are often AAmsted. Colorado is the largest producer of zinc 
ores, chiefly from LeadAulle, but also from Aspen, Creede 
and Clear Creek. The output from Noav Mexico and Utah 
is also rapidly increasing. 

Tlie reAuew of progress would be incomplete AAuthout a 
mention of the pyritic smelting brought fomyard some ten 
A^ears ago bt which the gold and silver is collected in a 
small amount of copper matte Avith little fuel and Avithout 
previous roasting of the ore. In many districts this pro¬ 
cess has materially helped the gold production for cupri¬ 
ferous pyrite is abundant and lean gold quartz can be used 
as flux. 

The Mine and the deduction Works. 

A monopoly in mining is fortunately a condition that 
seems very far from us. But there exists unquestionably 
a tendencA^ in the smelting and reduction industries toAAmrds 
concentration into few hands. Doubtless this is attended * 
by some adAmntages for the miner in the way of a ready 
market for his ore and often also in a diminution of reduc¬ 
tion costs due to operation on a large scale, but this de- 
]>endence upon large concerns also carries with it certain 
disadAmntages. One point relating to the marketing of ot^es 
may be emphasized: The miner of complex ores, such as 
abound here in Colorado, is A^ery apt to sell his ore—con¬ 
taining, say, copper, lead, silver and gold—like so much 
coal at so much a ton as per smelting schedule, and at the 
end of the A'^ear he is totally in the dark as to how much 
of each metal his ore contained, hoAv much he got paid for, 
Avliat he failed to obtain pay for, what he could haA^e saA^ed 
by changing his mining practices in certain AAmys. This 
unfortunate habit prevails in a most astonishing degree 
to-day in Colorado, and that not only among the small pro¬ 
ducers, but in many large companies. 

The ideal condition is that of a mine Avitli its OAvn re¬ 
duction works. In a A^ast number of cases this ideal con¬ 
dition cannot, of course, be profitably established, but it 
seems that for some years ])ast the attitude of the miner has 
in this respect been more helpless than actually necessary. 


t 


) 



METAL MINING IN WESTERN STATES. 


31 


The Emancipation from Europe. 

A\e would be ungTateful not to recognize onr debt to 
Europe—(lerinaiw and England above others—for guiding 
the first steps of onr metal industry. We owe much to 
them, even if their advice, because of a radically differing 
situation, sometimes resulted in failure. But we could rec¬ 
ognize with pride that in the face of many discourage¬ 
ments, we have worked out our problems in an Independent 
spirit and ahvays with consideration of actual conditions 
rather than of authority and pattern. It is this quality, as 
well as their enterprise and energy, that has placed Amer¬ 
ican mining engineers at the head of their profession. It 
should be emphasized that it is largely the American min¬ 
ing schools in their rapid development of the last twenty 
years that have supplied the material for the profession. 
Young men now come out of these schools with an ade¬ 
quate foundation of elemental knowledge upon which prac¬ 
tice can rear its structure. 

But we must confess it was not always thus. The gen- 
eral recognition of the value of a technical education in 
mining affairs is a development of the last twenty years. 


Conclusions. 

To look backward upon the magnificent achievements 
of the past is useful only as an incentive for further steps 
in advance. That such steps are being taken every day of 
the year in every state of the West is a fact with which all 
of us are familiar. In Colorado, Utah, Montana, Nevada, 
California—in all of the Cordilleran states—mining is at 
a high tide—it never was more active—and the best prom¬ 
ise lies in the fact that so many new mines and districts are 
coming to the front. We know that our states of the West 
can produce more silver, perhaps they can produce more 
gold, iiossibly more copper and lead. But shall we be able 
to maintain the terrific pace set? And to this the western 
spirit, in calm confidence, ansAvers that it can try. It has 
already accomplished things AAdiich once AA^ere thought im¬ 
possible. 





The Mining and Mineral Resources of Utah 


BY JOHN DERN, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

It is rapidly^ being' deinonstrated that in mineral 
wealth Utah ranks at the very front among the states of 
the Union. While, throngh force of cirenmstances, early 
settlers laid great stress on agTienltnre to the detriment of 
mining, yet the rapid strides made in late years more than 
compensate for the slow beginning; and now the search 
for minerals has commenced in earnest. 

There has been found to exist in Utah possibly as great 
a variety of commercially valuable minerals as is to be 

*' t-' / 

found in any like area on the face of the earth. In a paper 
of any reasonable length, only brief mention of some of 
the most important minerals and mining regions will be 
possible. In the production of the four important metals, 
—gold, silver, copper and lead,—in the United States dur¬ 
ing the past year, Utah stood third in silver, third in lead, 
fourth in copper and sixth in gold. In all of these metals 
she showed a substantial increase over the previous year, 
with the exception of lead, and in the increased output of 
copper and in her prospects for enormous further increase 
in'production of this metal, the state has made an enviable 
record. Utah will be, beyond all question, one of the im¬ 
portant future copper districts of the world. 

A few of her leading mining districts will receive at¬ 
tention in this paper. 

Park City. 

This famous Utah camp, wliicli has long held the repu¬ 
tation of being one of the leading silver-lead camps in this 
country, holds its own in the advancement of mining in 
the state. The output for the past year amounted to up- 
Avards of one million tons. The Silver King, the Daly-West, 
Daly-Judge and Little Bell are the heaviest producers, al¬ 
though other important mines are coming close behind. 
The ore of this district runs especially high in silver and 
lead, with copper increasing with depth. Although much 
of the ore is first-class,^or shipping ore, yet some A^ery ex¬ 
tensive concentrating mills are being operated in connec¬ 
tion with the larger mines. 




MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


Alta. 

Alta, the once famous Little ('ottomvood camp, has 
recently come again into jirominence. The production of 
lead, silver and gold from the old Emma and Flagstaff 
properties during the ^TOs and early ’80s amounted to mill¬ 
ions. After a period of less activity, recent developments 
in this district are disclosing enormous ore bodies, and it 
is now claimed that Alta is destined to be a second Park 
City; a natural comparison because of their corresponding 
position and similarity of ore. High grade shipping ore has 
recently been found in the Columbus Consolidated mine, 
and upwards of $300,000 worth of this product has already 
been shipped to the Salt Lake smelters. This company and 
the Continental Alta are operating concentrating mills on 
the milling ores of their properties. An interesting occur¬ 
rence and also a profitable one for the Continental Alta 
is that of wulfenite, the molybdate of lead, in this district. 
The mineral concentrates readily and has a high value, 
niainlv for its molybdenum-. Alta is the scene of great ac- 
tivity at present. 

The Tintic District. 


A greater number of dividend payers are to be found 
in the mines of this district than of any other district of 
^ the state. There were thirty-five shippers during 1905, the 
total output of which amounted to 300,000 tons. Among 
the most important producers may be mentioned the Cen¬ 
tennial Eureka, Mammoth, Bullion-Beck, Uncle Sam Con¬ 
solidated, Gemini, Eagle and Bine Bell, Yankee Consoli¬ 
dated, Grand Central, May Day, Swansea, South Swansea, 
Beck Tunnel, Carisa, Eureka Hill and Godiva. 

This district has always been an interesting field for 
the mineral collector as it affords a great variety of rare 
copper and arsenic minerals of decided beauty. 


Beaver County. 

In Beaver county are located the Horn Silver and the. 
Cactus mines. The former has produced principally lead, 
silver and zinc ore, while the latter is a copper mine. Many 
other mines of less importance from the standpoint of ore 
produced are to be found in this district. 

The Cactus mine, owned and operated by the Newhouse 
Mines and Smelters Company, has been developed on a 
plan which at first strikes one as financially daring to the 
point of audacity, and yet on closer examination appears 
to be based on a careful scientific study of conditions and 


:U PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

cost. It is stated that the development of the mine, the 
building of the necessary railroad connections, plant, etc., 
cost the promoters over a million dollars before they were 
in a condition to obtain any return from the reduction of 
their ore. On the other hand, they claim to have in sight 
two million one hundred thousand tons of ore which will 
carry, on an average, three per cent, copper. Recently, in 
the development of the property, an extensive ore body tAVO 
hundred and twenty-five feet wide, of higher copper con¬ 
tent, has been encountered on the three loAver levels of the 
mine. The outlook for' the future of this district is very 
gratifying. 

The Gold Mountain district of. Piute county is repre¬ 
sented by two important producers, the Annie Laurie and 
the Sevier Consolidated Gold Mining Company. These com¬ 
panies are mining gold ore averaging $7 or |8 per ton, and 
are extracting the gold by cyaniding and amalgamation. 

The Mercut' District. 

At this camp, on the ores of the Consolidated Mercur 
Company, occurred the first successful operation of the 
cyanide process for the treatment of gold ores on a commer¬ 
cial scale. NeAV ore bodies are t)eing opened up in the camp 
and the retreatment of old tailings by the TIoldernian-Fil¬ 
ter Tank Company is showing interesting deA^elopments. 

About one thousand flasks of mercury per year are pro¬ 
duced by the Sacramento mine, in the Mercur district. 

Bingham. 

The rapid and extensive development of the past few 
years has placed Bingham not only in the lead of copper 
producing camps in Utah, but among the great copper 
camps of the country. Among her leading producers may 
be mentioned the Highland Boy mine of the Utah Consoli¬ 
dated Companj^, which property produced during 1905, ap¬ 
proximately sixteen million pounds of copper, and during 
. the same year paid over $1,000,000 in dividends. The 
company operates its OAvn smelter and reduces upAvards of 
eight hundred tons of raw ore per day. 

The United States Mining Company is operating a num¬ 
ber of mines in this district, and at its smelter at Bingham 
Junction, in Salt Lake valley, is treating about one thou¬ 
sand tons of copper ore and four hundred tons of lead ore 
per day. 

The Bingham Consolidated Copper and Gold Company 
operates the Commercial, Dalton and Lark and other mines 


. MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


35 


of Bingham, and at its smelter at Bingham Junction is pro¬ 
ducing about thirteen million pounds of copper per year. 

The Yampa Consolidated Company is treating in its 
new smelter at Bingham about six hundred tons of copper 
ore from its mines in this district. 

A number of smaller companies are successfully oper¬ 
ating in Bingham; many of them are in the shipping class 
and yielding the owners handsomely. 

A most striking feature of copper mining in the Bing¬ 
ham district in the last two or three years is the complete 
success of experiments made in the treatment by concentra¬ 
tion of the so-called disseminated ores, in which small parti¬ 
cles of copper sulphide occur disseminated through altered 
porphyry. Enormous bodies of this class of ore occur in 
Bingham. They were formerly considered of too low grade 
to work, but have now been proved to yield a handsome 
profit when concentrated twenty into one. 

Arrangements are being rapidly completed for tlie 
treatment of 20,000 tons of this ore per day from Bingham. 
The ore bodies are mined in open Avorkings Avith monstrous 
steam shovels and even Avith the copper content of the 
porphyry about tAvo per cent., the improved methods of 
mining and milling employed make it possible to treat the 
ore at a handsome profit. It is claimed that tlie Utali Cop¬ 
per Company and the Boston Consolidated Company have 
over sixty million tons of this class of ore available for ex¬ 
traction. It is probable that these tAVO Bingham properties 
possess the two largest bodies of copper ore that are 
known. 

Besides the copper smelters already referred to, the 
American Smelting and Refining Company’s lead smelter 
at Murray is one of Utah’s important metallurgical estab¬ 
lishments. Eight large blast furnaces with the necessary 
roasters, sampling mills and additional auxiliary apparatus 
make this the largest lead smelter in the United States. 
Although the United States Mining Company has recently 
started up its lead plant at Bingham Junction, the amount 
of ore for lead reduction exceeds the combined capacity of 
the tAvo plants because of the greatly increased capacity of 
the mines. 

With this increased output of the mines of the state 
has arisen the need for increased smelting facilities, and 
eA^ery smelter in the Salt Lake valley has either increased, 
or is increasing, its capacity, until to-day the valley is a very 
important smelting center.. When the new smelters noAV 


36 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


under arc* completed, Salt Lake Avill be one of the 

greatest smelting centers in the Avorld. 

The American Smelting and Refining Company is 
erecting at Garfield Beach, on the Great Salt lake, a smel¬ 
ter AA^hich, AAdien completed, aa ill liaA^e a capacity of 3,000 
tons of ore per day. And it is claimed this is only a starter, 
and that this plant aaIII eA^entually excel in size any other 
plant in existence. The plant iioaa' being erected is tbor- 
oughly modern and aagU cost upAA^ards of tAA^o million fiA^e 

hundred thousand dollars. Some of its furnaces liaA'e al- 

* 

ready been bloAAUi in, and the entire plant is being rapidly 
pushed ahead. 

The Utah Smelting Company is building a smelter 
near Ogden. The plant is practically finished, and the fur¬ 
naces AA ill soon be turning out the reduced metal. 


Iron. 

Utah is destined to reduce iron and steel for the fu¬ 
ture trade of the Pacific coast and the Orient. Iron ore is 
found in A^arious parts of the state, in Juab and Utah coun¬ 
ties, in Weber and Uintah counties, but by far the most 
exteusiA’^e deposit is found in Iron county, in southern Utah. 
In this Iron mountain outcrop there is estimated by the 
best experts to be 500,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 tons 
of iron ore in sight. The immense deposit coA^ers an area 
fifteen miles long by three miles AAude. The ore aA^erages 
from fifty-nine to sixty-fiA^e per cent.metallic iron, Avith 
A^ery Ioav sulphur and phosphorus content. The adjacent 
limestone Is conA^enientl}^ situated aa ith respect to the de¬ 
posits, and AAdll serA^e for a cheap flux to be used in the re¬ 
duction. In many the black iron ore stands out 

aAAaiiting the coming of capital and human energy to carry 
it to the furnace and coiiA^ert it into the thousand Aairied 
commodities of ciAulization. Hundreds of acres of this de¬ 
posit AAdll require no stripping, and except AAdiere the ore 
outcrops, it is a soft red and broAAm hematite. 

This deposit is said to be the largest surface shoAving 
of iron ore knoAvn. 

Good fluxing iron ore, containing some gold, is found 
in the Tintic district and shipped to the smelters in Salt 
Lake county. 

Coal. 

Utah is putting on the market over a million and a 
half tons of coal per year. This supply comes principally 
from the Book Cliffs coal fields, located in Sevier, Emery, 
Carbon and Gi^and counties, in the east central part of the 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


37 


state. Three other coal fields of less importance are the 
Weber River, the San Pete, and the Iron county fields. 
Coal has been discovered in many other places in the state, 
but up to date these have only produced coal for local con¬ 
sumption. The number of these discoveries may be esti¬ 
mated when it is known that the state coal mine inspector 
reports 155 coal mines in Utah for 1904. 

The Utah Fuel Company of Salt Lake City owns and 
operates all the producing mines of the extensive Book 
Cliffs field. The coal field extends over an area of about 
seven thousand square miles, although the entire extent is 
not yet definitely known. At every locality investigated for 
a distance of more than one hundred miles in this field, the 
beds of coal range from three to twenty-five feet in thick¬ 
ness, is free from shaly matter, and is decidedly massive. 
Seams or lines indicating stratification are scarcel^^discern- 
ible. Immense blocks of massive coal from these fields 
liave made striking exhibits at the recent fairs at St. Louis 
and Portland. No other state in the Union displayed such 
massive chunks of solid coal as were shown by Utah. 

The coal is of excellent quality, remarkably uniform in 
composition, showing very low ash and sulphur contents. 
That from the Sunnyside mines is readily burned into an 
excellent grade of coke. The extensive output of these 
mines, amounting to more than half a million tons per 
3 ^ear, is now entirely used for coking, the product compar¬ 
ing more than favorably with the best Pennsylvania va¬ 
riety. 

The market for Utah coal and coke extends throughont 
the intermountain states and the entire Pacific coast. 

I 

Asphalt. 

Utah is particularly rich in liydro-carbon deposits. xVl- 
though many occurrences in different parts of the state are 
recorded, the principal deposits of these minerals are found 
in Uintah basin. The northern rim of this basin is in the 
Uintah mountains and adjoining plateaus. In the western 
half of this basin are found the abundant deposits of hydro¬ 
carbon minerals for which Utah is famous. The principal 
occurrences consist of Uintahite (Gilsonite), wurtzilite, elat- 
erite, ozocerite, maltha and a great variety of bituminous 
or asphaltic limestones, sandstones and shale. Of these, 
the most important under the present conditions is Uinta- 
liite, or the Gilsonite of commerce. It occurs in true veins, 
or fillings of fissures, which cut through the sedimentary 
rock of the region. The uses to which Uintahite and other 


38 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


hydro-carbons have been put are numerous. The principal 
supplies of hydro-carbon minerals for use in tlie United 
States are derived from the island of Trinidad. Water 
transportation is so much clieai^er than shipment by rail 
that the foreign product has been imported at a lower cost 
than that required for the delivery of the Utah minerals to 
the centers of consumption. This is the only reason for 
the comparatively small demand for Utah hydro-carbon. 
This Gilsonite^ however, is of a quality to command recogni¬ 
tion even in the face of cheap transportation of inferior 
material. 

Demonstrated facts warrant the statement that the 
liydro-carbon deposits of Utah surpass in variety, purity 
and extent all other recorded occurrences. The outcrop is 
in a manner conducive to cheap mining, and transportation 
facilities alone are lacking to make the deposits a bonanza 
of wealth to the owner and a cheap source of valuable and 
most desirable material to the consumer. 

Building Stone. 

Utah is rich in building stone of superior quality and 
in abundance to meet all demands. The Temple granite 
constitutes the greater part of the colossal mountain mass 
at Little Cottonwood canyon. Gneiss of Farmington canyon 
and the syenite of Ogden canon occur in quantities beyond 
estimate. 

Sandstone of special excellence occurs in Salt Lake, 

in Utah and inanv other counties of the state. The red 

* 

sandstone of Led Butte canon and the grav Kvane sand- 
stone, from Spanish Pork canon, along with the oolitic lime¬ 
stone of San Pete county, have been used in many of the 
most imposing buildings of Salt Lake and other Utah cities. 

Utah on^^x, used for interior decoration, is found in 
quantities in various parts of tlie state. Other ornamental 
stones, as malachite, azurite. alabaster, satin spar, moss 
agate, chrysocolla, feldspar, jasper, silicified wood, and ser¬ 
pentine also abound. 

Limestone makes up the main bulk of the AVasatch 
mountains and other Utah ranges. This rock, besides-serv¬ 
ing as an excellent building material, is much used for the 
preparation of lime, as a flux in ore smelting, and as a 
source of carbon dioxide in sugar factories. 

Fire Clay. 

Our state is now producing all kinds of refractory fire 
clay products, including firebrick, assay crucibles, muffles, 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OP UTAH, 


' 39 


sewer pipe, etc., of the liiohest quality. Although this 
industiy iu Utah is young, the superiority of the jiroducts 
has developed an extensive market. Tlie lire clay deposits 
of a number of counties are of exceptional purity and of 
almost unlimited extent. The deposits controlled by the 
Utah Fire Clay Company of Salt Lake City, co.vering an 
area of hundreds of acres, are situated near Lehi, Utah 
county. Their Avorks are in Salt Lake City, from AAdiich 
place they send their products throughout the iutermoun- 
tain and Pacific states and east, eA^en to NeAV York. As- 
sayers’ crucibles are iioaa^ being shipped into DenA^er by the 
carload. 

Gypsum. 

Utah has immense deposits of rock gypsum Avithin her 
borders. The most important known deposits occur in the 
central and southern portions of the state, in Juab county, 
east of Nei)hi,. in San Pete and SeAuer counties, near Sa- 
lina; in Millard county at AVhite Mountain, near Fillmore, 
and in Wayne county, in South Washington. Deposits are 
also knoAA n in Emery, Kane, Craiid, Iron and Washington 
counties. 

The Nei)hi Plaster and Manufacturing Company of 
Neplii, LTtah, is operated under most favorable conditions 
on the Juab county deposits, one mile east of Nephi. The 
deposit is claimed to be the largest and purest natural de¬ 
posit of gypsum ever discovered, and the product of these 
works is recognized and sought after as plaster of the high¬ 
est grade wherever it has been used. The deposit is so sit¬ 
uated that it can be quarried from the mountain, run 
through the mill and loaded into the cars beloAv more eco¬ 
nomically than at am^ similar plant in existence. 

Their market extends nortliAvard to Vancouver and 
Victoria, through the Pacific states and throughout the 
intermountain region. Their products are finishing plaster, 
fibred and infibred hard Avail, casting and moulding plas¬ 
ter, dental plaster and land and grain plaster. Their pro¬ 
duction amounts to about one hundred thousand pounds 
per day, or about six hundred cars per year. 

Sulphur. '■' > 

Native sulphur occurs in extensiA^e deposits at Cove 
Creek, Millard county, Utah. The crude ore averages 
twenty per cent, sulphur as it comes from the A^eiu, although 
in places masses of pure sulphur are to be found. The prod¬ 
uct of the Utah mines is exceptionally pure, being free from 
arsenic and other deleterious substances. The deposits are 


40 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


now owned and operated by the Utah Sulplinr Company of 
Salt Lake City, who also have complete refining works at 
the mines. The production for IhOG is estimated at 1,000 
tons, embracing a number of different products. Crude 
sulphur, tlie product obtained by simply melting the sul¬ 
phur from the crude rock by means of heat from steam, 
powdered sulphur, sublimed fiours of sulphur, and rolled 
l3rimstone, all of which are products of sublimation of tlie 
crude and melted substances. With the development of 
the West, the demand for Utah sulphur is rapidly increas¬ 
ing. At present the market extends over the intermountain 
states, Arkansas, Texas and California, where the sulphur 
is used for sheep dipping, tree and vine spraying, fruit and 
hop leaching, and for sugar refining. 

Vanadium and Uranium. 

These rare elements often occur together. Their value 
for commercial uses has stimulated the search I'or their 
mineral compounds. Vanadium, for which there is a de¬ 
mand in hardened steel, is scarce. It is said to be many 
times more effective than tungsten in hardening and tough¬ 
ening steel, and is, therefore, much sought after. Uranium 
is valued commercially for its use in the manufacture of 
porcelain and glassware, and its radio-activity makes it 
extremely interesting scientifically. The principal source 
of the minerals of vanadium and uranium is an extensive 
area in southeastern Utah and southwestern Colorado. The 
vanadiferous minerals of Kichardson, Utah, are the rich¬ 
est deposits of vanadium ores yet discovered in the United 
States, and have a high commercial value. They are chiefly 
compounds of vanadium with copper, arsenic, barium, or 
calcium. These high grade vanadium ores are associated 
with carnotite, the interesting radio-active mineral. Be¬ 
sides carnotite, other minerals containing vanadium, and 
also uranium, are found in numerous localities over the 
Richardson area, and in other jjarts of the state. 

Salt. 

There are billions of tons of salt in the waters of Great 
Salt lake, and extensive deposits of rock salt in the moun¬ 
tains of the state. From these sources the state is produc¬ 
ing yearly about thirty-five thousand tons. With the in¬ 
creased facilities for transportation noAv promised by the 
advent of the numerous railroads throughout the state, 
this output can readily be increased, in the near future, 
manv fold. ‘ 


MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OF UTAH. 


41 


The Inland (T^^stal Salt Company of Salt Lake City is 
harvesting almost the entire salt output of the state from 
the waters of the Great Salt lake. ‘ Their works are located 
near the famous Saltair resort. The water of the lake is 
pumped by centrifugal pumps into shallow ponds, where 
solar evai)oration in the dry summer months carries off the 
water, leaving the crystal salt behind. The evaporating 
season lasts about one hundred days, during which time 
there is constant })iim])ing of the brine into the ponds, the 
aim being to keep the evaxiorated solution from becoming so 
concentrated as to dex)osit other solid matter with the crys¬ 
tals of sodium chloride. When the season is over, the 
mother li(pior is flushed out of the x>onds, leaving a layer 
of soft crystals from three to six inches deep, covering the 
entire area of the shallow x>onds. An average crop is four 
and one-half inches thick, amounting to 700 tons of salt 
per acre. Each pond has been x)reviously lined with a thin 
deposit of salt by this same process, and the salt lining has 
become verv denselv caked, so as to form a firm bottom to 
the regular salt crox^. Thus the crop can be readily shov¬ 
eled up into windrows and from here into cars and barrels, 
and then dumped into piles of about one thousand tons 
.each. These piles soon become covered with a very hard 
crust. The outer layers x)Rrtly dissolve with the rains, and 
the crvstals become cemented together verv firmlv around 
the outside of the pile. These piles may be left with safety 
for years, if need be. iMuch of this crude salt found a mar¬ 
ket in the x^asf for chloridizing, roasting and leaching of 
ores. At x)resent there is little call for salt for these pur¬ 
poses, but with the advance of metallurgical experimenta¬ 
tion on wet methods, there seems to be promise of a re¬ 
vival of wet methods, Avherein much sodium chloride will 
be re(|uired. 

For table use the salt is refined at the works. The pro¬ 
cess consists in crushing, drying and winnowing while hot. « 
The efficiency of the fans in sex)arating the efflorescent sul¬ 
phates from the crude salt is abuudantly demonstrated by 
a comparison of the analyses of crude and refined .products. 
The refined salt is ground and sifted to give products of the 
proper degree of fineness, as reciuired for packing, table and 
dairy use. The salt so pi*ci)ared is of exceptional purity, as 
the following analysis shows: 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Per cent. 


Sodium chloride (pure salt). 99.27 

Calcium sulphate .058 

Insoluble matter.007 

Moisture .008 

Calcium chloride . Trace 

Magnesium . Trace 


100.00 


The dense brine of the (treat Salt Lake constitutes a 
vast mine of chemical riches, oftering a vast variety of 
chemical products, other than salt, at the minimum cost 
of preparation. The total solid matter in solution in this 
water amounts to about 21 per cent., or six times that of 
sCa water. The solid consists principally of sodium and 
magnesium salts. The chlorides and sulphates predomi¬ 
nate. Next to salt, sodium sulphate claims attention. This 
mineral, known as mirabilite, crystallizes from the lake 
water in the winter, when the temperature reaches 20 to 80 
degrees Fahrenheit. Hundreds of thousands of tons of this 
material are deposited in the lake bottom and are washed 
upon the shore Avhenever the temperature reaches the Ioav 
point given. This sulphate is of importance in the manu¬ 
facture of soda. 

In the ordinary Le Plane process for the manufacture 
of soda from common salt, the first step is the com^ersion 
of sodium chloride into the sulphate by means of sulphuric 
acid. From here on the process is a simple and cheap one. 
Along the shores of our lake can be taken up, in unlimited 
quantities, this sodium sulphate, ready for couA^ersion into 
the much called for carbonate, or the soda of commerce. 
This is only one of the many substances found in the brine 
of Great Salt Lake that aaTII serA^e as a source of great in¬ 
come to those Avho shall develop the necessary industries. 

Security of Investments in Utah. 

FeAV labor-troubles have interfered Avith the Avorkinjxs 
of the mines in this state. The sentiment of the people is 
against strikes and lock-outs; and in almost every instance 
of difference betAveen the employe and the employer, the 
difficult^^ has been settled amicably, Avithout resort to 
strikes, and the suspension of operations. Capitalists are 
noAv appreciating this faAmrable relation betAveen capital 
and labor in Utah, and are shoAving a preference for our 
state as a place to invest tbeir money. 


1 









MINING AND MINERAL RESOURCES OP UTAH. 


43 


Opportunities are uuiueroiis for iiivestmeut in the un¬ 
developed industries arising from our extensive mineral 
wealth. 

'Her mineral deposits already discovered, with those 
yet undiscovered, the wealth of her briny sea, and the 
metallurgical treatment of her mineral products, along 
with the stability of capital and labor in Utah, invite men 
of means to make investment in the state with assurance 
of satisfactory returns. 


N 


I 


f 


The American Institute of Mining Engineers 


BY R. W. RAYMOND. 


Having been almost continnonsly an officer of this so¬ 
ciety since its organization in 1871, I may claim an intimate 
acqnaintance with its history and administration; and I 
welcome the opportunity to explain in this contribution 
some features of its plan which are not perfectly under¬ 
stood by the public. Unfortunately, time is not at my com¬ 
mand for an elaborate and complete discussion of the sub¬ 
ject, and this sketch must necessarily be brief and frag- 
mentaiy. 

The period following the War for the Union was char¬ 
acterized by great activity in mining, and a great demand 
for mining engineers. The mining industry of the Pacific 
states had been, ever since the discovery of gold in Califor¬ 
nia, the leading factor in the settlement of the country, the 
improvement of communications and the establishment of 
civilized commnnities, Avith auxiliary agencies of commerce 
and manufactures, as well as education and religion. The 
governmental aid given to the Pacific raihvays, on the 
ground that these lines Avere militaiw necessities for the 
handling of the Indian tribes and the maintenance of sov¬ 


ereign federal authority throughout the Amst Pacific slope, 
could scarcely liaA^e been secured, had not the mineral re¬ 
sources of that region giA^eii it a thrilling romantic interest 
and a boundless value in the eyes of the people of the East. 
At the same time, the exploitation of the Avestern mines and 
the rapid development of coal, iron, copper and lead mining 
in the older states, called for trained engineers; and snc- 
cessUe technical schools Avere established in response to this 
demand, while technical journals flourished, and became 
more and more devoted to problems of theory and practice, 
as Avell as records of iieAv enterprises. MeaiiAAdiile, the 
actual mining engineers of the United States—those Avho 
were doing the great Avork of mining both East and West— 
could not be said to form an organized profession at all. 
There were a feAV graduates of foreign schools; many civil 
engineers who had turned their attention to mining; a much 
larger number of miners from CoruAvall or Germany Avho 
had risen to be mine captains and ^^experts;’’ and a still 
larger number of self-taught xVmerican miners and prospec¬ 
tors, ignorant and jealous of book-knowledge, and oA^er- 




AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS. 


45 


couscious of superiorit}' in many res})ects to its possessors 
and professors. This heterogeneous multitude had no com¬ 
mon ground for the interchange of views and experiences, 
and no organizeTl common feeling inducing them to seek 
and occupy such a ground. The technical journals and the 
technical schools alike needed to be reinforced in their en¬ 
deavors by some agency which should promote personal ac¬ 
quaintance and mutual esteem among the men in whose 
hands were the mining operations of America. 

It was mv realization of this feature of the situation 


that led me, as the editor of the Engineering and Mining 
Journal, to attend at Wilkes-Barre, in May, 1871, the meet¬ 
ing called by three mining engineers, Eckley B. Coxe, Bich- 
ard P. Bothwell and Martin Coryell, to organize an associa¬ 
tion. As a beginning, in default of a duly elaborated 
scheme to suit our special case, the Buies of the North of 
England Institute of Mining Engineers were adopted in sub¬ 
stance; and the name of ^^The American Institute of Mining 
Engineers’^ was chosen for the new societv without debate, 
as a matter of course. The rules were subsequently re¬ 
written; but the name, though in some respects a misnomer, 
since it does not fully describe the scope of the Institute, 
has survived, and has become so dear to the members and 
so well known to the world that it is not likely to be 
changed. A lucky misnomer is sometimes: a “mascot.” 

At the outset, a most important question arose, the set¬ 
tlement of which involved the whole future of the society. 
Several educated engineers protested against the admission 
to full membership of persons not belonging to the profes¬ 
sion, and not possessed of a certain degree of professional 
standing and experience. They could not insist upon the 
degree of M. E. or E. M. as a qualification. They did not 
themselves hold that degree; but they felt that C. E. or its 
equivalent in certified experience and knowledge ought to 
be required. In a word, the^^ did not wish to recognize as 
fellow-members (though they would consent to admit as 
associates) common miners, foremen and self-educated mine 
captains. 

There was much to be said in favor of this feeling. Pro¬ 
fessional societies usually represent professions, and mem¬ 
bership in them is accepted as a guaranty of professional 
standing. Consequently they make careful preliminary ex¬ 
amination into the training and achievements of candidates, 
and sometimes impose a period of quasi-probation as 
“junior” before advancement to full membership. All lliis 
is excellent, for the purpose for which it was designed. But 


40 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


tluit was not the purpose of the Wilkes-Barre meeting of 
1871; and if that had been its purpose, tlie movement would 
have failed. This point is so important as to warrant fur¬ 
ther explanation. 

There was at that time no sindi thing in the country as 
a distinct profession of mine engineering, numerous enough 
to support an active and useful society. Any attempt to 
create one by means of a society would have resulted in a 
small, select .(h e., self-selected) coterie, barren of influence 
and outside of practical connection with the national mining 
industry. 

The pressing need of the hour was not the segregation 
of a select body, but the cordial co-operation of all the rep¬ 
resentatives of a great industry or group of industries. This 
could only be effected by bringing together on terms of 
friendly equality the school-men and the field-nien, and per¬ 
suading the latter to do what they were naturally shy and 
reluctant in attempting—namely, to tell what thej^ knew, 
for the benefit of all. Unquestionably the self-educated, 
practical mining men and furnace-men at that time knew 
more than 'the school-graduates about the actual facts of 
American ore-deposits, mine^workings and furnace-manage¬ 
ment. It was not the nominal manager, but the Cornish 
captain, who knew the mine; it was not the chemist, but the 
founder who ran the furnace. If these practical men were 
slighted at the beginning, they would stand aloof, giving no 
aid in the way of fresh facts, and leaving the theorists to 
exchange their speculations with little profit, like the tra¬ 
ditional boys confined in the garret, who professed to have 
made money by swapping jack-knives, back and forth. 

Again, the work of publishing and distributing useful 
information could only be done upon an influential scale by 
a society with a large income; and this would require either 
a select, small society sup^Dorted by heavy annual dues, or 
a numerous membership paying small dues. Beyond ques¬ 
tion, the latter was both easier to secure and more fruitful 
of influence as well as revenue. The result of thirty-five 
years’ experience has left no doubt on that head. What 
the Institute has given to its members in the way of publi¬ 
cations for the annual fee of flO may be confidently com¬ 
pared in both quantity and quality with the similar publi¬ 
cations of any society in the world, supported by annual 
dues of twice or thrice that sum. 

Another point is worthy of note. A large membership, 
even if it be not narrowly confined to men of a certain 
ascertained standing in a single profession, furnishes an 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS. 


47 


attractive and inspiring public to ambitions authors. A 
famous engineer (member of several other American and 
foreign professional societies, as well as of onr Institute) 
once said to me, ^‘Tlie Institute is an association largely 
composed of ^mung men with reputations to win, instead 
of older men with reputations to maintain. The conse¬ 
quence is that your members are eager to communicate 
what they know or think, instead of being afraid to ^give it 
away,’ or reluctant to incur criticism by offering profes¬ 
sional coustributions not mouamentally complete and cred¬ 
itable to their acknoAvledged professional standing,” 

The Transactions of the Institute illustrate the truth 
of this keen, discriminating observation. Some of their 
most Amluable papers have come from men who could not 
liaA^e claimed membership in more ^^select” societies, and 
who Avrote, not because they AA^ere already knoAvn, but in 
order to make themselves knoAvn. 

At all eA^ents, the force of circumstances dictnt'ed, and 
the experience of thirt^^-fiA^e years has appro a ed the deci¬ 
sion Avhich admitted to membership in the Institute all 
persons trained for, or practically connected Avith, the pro¬ 
fessions and industries Avhich it represented. 

But this decision iiiA^olved the simultaneous adoption 
of another. In 1871 (and the same is true to a more limited 
extent to-day), the American mining engineer had to knoAv 
many things besides mine-engineering proper. He Avas ex¬ 
pected to do, or intelligently to superintend, the Avork of 
assaying, milling, smelting and general construction and 
management. Moreover, a man who Avas running the mine 
to-day might be superintending the furnace to-morrow. 
Hence it Avas found both advisable and practicable to in¬ 
clude in the membership of the Institute those Avho Avere 
connected with geology, chemistry, and civil, mechanical or 
electrical engineering, as applied to mining or metallurgy. 

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the 
American Institute of Electrical Engineers are both 
younger than our Institute, and, in some sense, its offspring. 
Thev have fields of their oAvn, Avhich thev most creditably 
occupy; yet great numbers of their members still seek or 
retain membership in the Institute of Mining Engineers, 
and the Institute has had no reason to close the doors once 
opened to such candidate^. 

'The original scheme of the Institute led to an unpre¬ 
cedented growth,, both at home and abroad. The member¬ 
ship increased rapidly from year to year, and noAV numbers 
more tlian four thousand names, distributed tliroughout the 


48 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


world. This forced upon the management two additional 
problems: one of government, the other of policy. 

The meetings of tlie Institute were, from the beginning, 
peripatetic. Nothing else could have prevented its degen¬ 
eration into a local organization, or kept alive the national 
sympathy necessaiw to its success. Until its incorporation 
in 1905, it had no official headquarters aside from the office 
of its Secretary, which had been located, without any offi¬ 
cial action, wherever the Secretary happened to reside,— 
first at Lambertville, NeAV Jersey, then at Philadelphia, 
then at Easton, l^ennsylvania, and’ finall}^ at New York 
City. It was manifestly impracticable to leave the decision 
of business questions to the vote of such members as might 
happen to attend a meeting in some particular locality. 
Consequently, almost absolute powers were given to the 
Council, chosen annuall}^ by postal ballot. 

But such a grant of absolute power demands a pre¬ 
cise limitation of its sphere; and accordingly the Council of 
the Institute was prohibited from any act or utterance 
outside of the management of the proceedings of the so¬ 
ciety itself, namely, the holding of meetings, and the ac¬ 
ceptance, publication and distribution of papers. Grad¬ 
ually it came to be recognized that the Institute itself, as 
represented by the members attending a given meeting, was 
still less competent than its representative Council to ex- 
])iess opinions or a])])rove propositions of any kind outside 
of its own immediate affairs; and the final result was the 
])resent rule: 

^‘The Institute shall not assume resjionsibility for any 
statements of fact or' opinion advanced in the papers or 
discussions at its meetings. Neither the Council nor the 
Institute sluall officially approve or disapprove any tech¬ 
nical or scientific opinion or any proposed enterprise, out¬ 
side of the management of the meetings, discussions and 
publications of the Institute, and the conduct of its busi¬ 
ness affairs bv the Board of Directors.” 

* 

This policy is not only approved by our experience, 
but also founded in a correct theorv of the relation of the 

f' 

Institute to its individual members. 

A mail who joins the society for the sake of the bene¬ 
fits offered by ^ its ])ubli(*atioris and its fellowship* has a 

*FOOTNOTE.—I must be content with a mere passing notice of the 
advantages of this fellowship, which has proved in innumerable cases the 
sufRcient motive for a frank interchange of information, quite outside 
of the formal published papers and discussions. ■ It has been for many 
years my practice as Secretary to refer members desiring information 
which I did not possess to other members who had it. And I can recall 
no case in which such an appeal did not meet a courteous response. 




AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING ENGINEERS. 


'*9 


right to the assurauce that neither his iiame, his money, 
nor the influence of tlie^ organization which both his name 
and his money have strengthened, shall be used to j)romote 
any outside cause whatever. No matter how ignorant or 
prejudiced he may be, he is entitled to be protected against 
unwilling partnership in an opinion, or a movement, or an 
enterprise, which he has not contemplated. 

Several instances from the earlier history of the Insti¬ 
tute will further illustrate this principle. 

In the first decade, there was a brilliant discussion be¬ 
fore the Institute of the question ^^What Is Steeland in 
1876 an International Committee of high distinction re¬ 
ported for our adoption a new nomenclature for the prod¬ 
ucts of the iron blast-furnace, the Bessemer converter, the 
forge and the crucible. But, underneath the technical ques¬ 
tions involved, there were important questions of tarift’ 
classification, involving, perhaps, millions of dollars; and 
a sweeping decision of the Institute on either side of the 
case would have been used in argument before the United 
States Treasury Department, To the injury of the business 
interests of inanv members. This result Avas Aviselv averted 

• e.’ 

bA^ a refusal to promulgate auA^ such general decision. 

Later, there Avas a memorable debate, concerning the 
metric system of Aveights and measures, on a resolution rec¬ 
ommending* Congressional legislation to make this svstem 
obligatory. Here, again, the iTroposition Avas passionately 
opposed by members Avhose business interests Avould, at 
least in their OAvn opinion, be injuriously affected by it, as 
Avell as by those who, on principle, disapproA’^ed it. In this 
case the speeches oh both sides were reported in the Trans¬ 
actions; but Avhen the time came to vote on the resolution 
itself, the presiding officer declared it to be out of order, as 
not included in the declared purposes of the Institute, and, 
therefore, declined to ])ut it to vote. This decision, sus¬ 
tained by the meeting, may be said to haA^e settled, once for 
all, the principle Avhich, after several similar precedents, 
AAms formally embodied in the rule already quoted. 

It is eAudent that no rule of this kind could be enforced 
if there AA^ere any recognized distinction as to the merit of 
the scheme or proposition seeking support. Such a scheme 
or proposition, if of such a character as, almost beyond 
doubt, to command the hearty assent of all members, AA^ould ^ 
surely constitute an excellent precedent and illufration for 
the support of the existing rule*. 

Ever since the Institute became successful, influenfial 
and widely knoAvn, innumerable attempts liaA^e been made 


50 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


in entire good faitli, to secure the aid of its name and au¬ 
thority for propositions honestly believed to be (as, in most 
cases, they were) meritorious, llecommendations that Con¬ 
gress should make appropriation for tlie representation of 
the United States mineral industry at this or that exposi¬ 
tion at home or abroad; that the Institute should unite with 
this or that society to form a joint committee on national or 
international standards, etc., etc., have all been ^durned 
down’’—the more meritorious, tlie more promxitly. It Avas 
the only way to preserve our plan and purpose. 

This statement may explain Avhy the Institute and its 
officers, as such, have taken no part in the successive meet¬ 
ings of the American Mining Congress, with the i^urposes. 
of which a large number of our members are in sympathy. 

I feel bound to add that the restricted policy above 
outlined has had someAvliat unexiiected and most gratifying 
results. The Institute has been the forum, and its Trans¬ 
actions the records, of the free discussion of nearly every 
important and pertinent (question connected Avith the prog¬ 
ress of modern engineering. Expressing no opinions, Ave 
hear all, and furnish to the proposer of any reasonable noA^el 
AueAv an appreciative audience. And no student of the prac¬ 
tice of the last thirty years in any department represented 
by our membersliip can afford to overlook the authoritative 
and suggestiA^e contributions made bA" us to the technical 
literature of this generation. 

There are iiiaiiv other features of the liistorA^ tradi- 
tion and consequent present administration of the • Insti¬ 
tute, concerning Avhich I Avould gladly speak, and feel my¬ 
self exceptionally qualified by circumstances to speak; but 
I cannot thus add to the present sketch, Avhich, I venture to 
hope, has explained (and even justified) the three leading 
peculiarities of the Institute, namely, 

1. Its Avide and liberal conditions of membership. 

2. Its absolute government bv a central bodv, i. e. its 
representative, rather than purely democratic, organiza; 
tion. 

3. Its strict limitation of the functions and poAvers,, 
both of the governing body and of the Institute as a Avhole. 

Each of these features has been often criticised, usualIv 
in perfect good nature and good faith. I shall not noAV 
undertake to offer any further defense of them, not inci¬ 
dentally implied in the foregoing explanation. But I think 
I may fairly claim to have shoAvn that they came Into exist¬ 
ence as the natural and necessary results of the conditions 



AMERICAN INSTITUTE OP MINING ENGINEERS. 51 

attending their origin. Even if something better might 
have been imagined, notliing better could have been done. 

Finally, may I not modestly, but confidently^, claim that 
the results of this enterprise, whatever may have been the 
defects of its plan, have been, somehow or other, such as 
to warrant ns in ^dotting well enough alone’^? 




4 


/ 


Recent Improvements in the Cyanide Process 


BY F. L. BOSQUl. 

I will preface these remarks by stating that this is 
not to be, strictly speaking, a technical paper. I take it 
that the majority of the delegates composing this Congress 
are practical mining men, interested, perhaps, less in the 
technique of mining, than in the maintenance of the indus/ 
try on a high plane of honesty and decenc}^ For the tech¬ 
nical details of metallurgicaj processes we can all go to 
the transactions of the societies or to the text books. ]My 
purpose is to present, briefly and intelligibly, a resume of 
the evolution of an art which has recently undergone so 
many rapid and startling changes, and one Avhich has at¬ 
tained a degree of popularity enjoyed by no other depart¬ 
ment of metallurgy. 

The apparently simple combination of a leaching tank, 
a cyanide solution and a zinc precipitation box olfers 
an irresistible lure to the imagination of the budding 
metallurgist and chemist. The novelty and mystery of the 
chemical reactions involved, the astonishing practical re¬ 
sults achieved, even in the hands of incompetent operators, 
were, from the inception of the process, attractions temijt- 
ing enough to draw assayers and chemists away from the 
routine of their work into a field abounding in promise and 
good salaries. The result w^as a plague of cyanide men, and 
tlie erection of all kinds of cyanide plants. The farmeFs 
boy, abandoning the plow for the rosy seductions of the 
neighboring mining camp, set up a barrel in a shed to treat 
the few tons of tailings deposited on a creek bank on his 
father’s land; while in South Africa, fabulous sums of 
' money were spent in the erection of splendid plants, con¬ 
taining the most expensive equixnnent, and requiring the 
highest mechanical and metallurgical skill. 

It was nearly twenty years ago that two British chem¬ 
ists, MacArthur and Forrest, made the first practical ap- 
I)lication of the dissolving action of a dilute cyanide solu¬ 
tion on gold. (The process was at once adopted in New Zea¬ 
land and South Africa. .In the latter country, particularly, 
all the conditions were most favorable to its success, and 
tlie enormous x)rofits yielded by the pioneer plants at once 
established cyaniding as an art of the greatest commercial 
importance. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


53 


The procedure adopted in the Transvaal was simple in 
comparison Avith recent moditications of the process. The 
tailing from the stamps, after hydraulic concentration of 


coarse sand and snlphnrets, Avas gathered in leaching 
tanks; the slime overtloAV Avas run into huge shalloAA" vats, 
the surplus Avater decanted, and the slime subjected to a 
series of agitations and decantations until tiie mineral 
Avhich it Avas found economical to extract, Avas tinall}" i)re- 
cipitated out of the solution. 

At first zinc shavings were universally used as a pre¬ 
cipitant, but this Avas suxDerseded by Avhat Avas kiiOAvn as 
the Siemens-Halske process, or the electrolytic deposition 
of the gold on lead sheets. This Avas adopted in all the rep¬ 
resentative plants; but its popularity soon Avaned, owing 
to the production of troublesome by-products, the UAvkAvard- 
uess of the clean-up and bullion recovery, and the unsat¬ 
isfactory deposition as compared with that obtained on zinc. 
Its chief advantage Avas that it recoA^ered the A^alues from 
extremely dilute solutions; but this advantage Avas nulli¬ 
fied by Betty’s discoA-ery that zinc sliaA ings, if dipped in a 
Aveak solution of lead acetate, would accomplish the same 
thing. 

For a long time no radical changes Avere introduced 
in cyanide practice in South Africa. This Avas due to the 
serious blow given the mining industry by the Boer Avar; 
and, also, in part to the conservatism of metallurgists on the 
Rand and their reluctance to adopt important innoAmtions 
originating in Australia. The brothers Denny AA^ere the 
first of the Rand metallurgists to recognize the importance 
of finer grinding; and their energetic advocacy of tube¬ 
milling and filter-pressing finally resulted in the accept¬ 
ance of Australian methods in the Transvaal. 

It was during the lethargy of cyaniding on the Rand 
that the filter press and the tube mill Avere introduced in 
the sister colony. In this connection the interesting fact 
may be.noted that all the important devices introduced into 
cyanide practice had been previously used in other indus¬ 
tries; eA^eiiAlie pipe distributer used for distributing tail¬ 
ings in a leaching tank Avas an adaptation of the common 
laAvn sprinkler. The filter press had been used for years 
to filter solutions in the refining of sugar; and the tube mill 
had been in use as a dry grinding machine in the cement 
industrv. 


The metallurgists of Australia never took kindly to 
decantation in slime treatment, and the introduction of the 
filter press Avas the result. In justice to tlie Rand operators, ' 


54 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


however, it must be said that decautation Avas A'ery Avell 
suited to existing conditions. The product they Avere han¬ 
dling Avas too loAV grade to stand the prohibitiA^e cost of 
filter pressing. In West Australia the press Avas applied 
to a much higher grade product, and one Avhich lent itself 
more easily to press Avork. 

“The obvious objection to the older tyiie of filter presses 
is the high cost of installation and operation; but they, neA^- 
ertheless, enjoyed a great success; and it is worthy of note 
in observing the evolution of the process, that they Avere a 
means of emphasizing the importance of fine grinding, and 
helped to establish the permanence of the tube mill. It has 
alAvays been a truism in cyaniding that the finer the prod¬ 
uct, the higher the extraction. This is the case with few ex¬ 
ceptions. To apply this principle re(|uired two things: an ec¬ 
onomical machine for fine grinding, and a filtering system 
Avhich Avould be at once efficient and economical. You are 
all, no doubt, familiar with the tube mill as now applied to 
cyanide work. It consists of a sheet steel cylinder Avith cast 
ends, varying in size (the largest mills are five feet in diam¬ 
eter by tAventy-two feet long), and supported either upon 
trunnions or upon steel tires revolving on rollers like a 
chlorination barrel. The interior of the mill may be lined 
either with cast iron, or a species of natural flint, known 
as ^^Silex.’^ The latter is the more commonly used, and is 
sold in tAvo sizes—blocks Iavo and one-half inches and four 
inches thick. The Silex linings are laid in neat cement and 
will last from four to eight months, depending upon the ore. 
Ydien ready to operate, the mill is charged about half full 
with flint pebbles. The product to be reground is fed into the 
mill either through a spiral feed or a feed of the stuffing- 
box type, and the reground material is discharged at the op¬ 
posite end, being finely comminuted by attrition against 
the flint pebbles and the lining during the sIoav revolution 
of the cylinder. The average speed of the tube mill is from 
tAventy-flve to thirty-five revolutions per minute. The fine¬ 
ness to Avhich the sand may be reduced will depend upon 
several factors, chief among which is the amount of Avater. 
introduced with the sand. The best proportion lias been 
found to be one part solids to one part Avater. 

As a machine for economically sliming, that is reducing 
ore to an extreme fineness, the tube mill has no equal. The 
cost of tube milling is variable. In this country and Mexico 
it will range between 20 and 40 cents per ton. The practice 
at El Oro, Mexico, and at Telluride, Colorado, is representa.- 
tive of the best practice on this continent, Avhile the figures 



IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


55 


oil tube milling at the Combination mine, Goldfield, Nevada, 
probably represent the maximum of cost, owing to high 
price of power and labor. A small 4xl2-foot trunnion mill 
is installed at the latter property for sliming the forty-mesh 
product from a Bryan mill. The product of ten stamps, 
about thirty-five tons of ore per da}^, passes to the tube mill 
classifier, and of this product about seventy-five per cent, 
goes to the tube mill, or 24.(i tons per day. The following 
figures may be of interest: 

Cost of 2J-in. silex lining laid in mill, f323.50. 

Life of lining, 4 months. 

Cost of lining, 7.7 cents per ton of ore stamped. 

('ost of pebbles delivered Goldfield, |71.0() per ton. 

Consumption of pebbles, 2.03 lb. per ton of ore stamped. 

Cost of pebbles, 7.1 cents per ton of ore stamped. 

Horse power: 25 H.B. at fll.25 per 11.B. per month. 

Cost of horse pov er, 26.7 cents iter ton of ore stahiped. 

Summary: Cost iier ton of ore stamped— 


Pebbles.|0.071 

Inning.077 ’ 

Power.267 


Total.10.415 per ton 


Tending the mill is one of the several duties falling 
upon one man; and the consumption of lubricants is almost 
negligible. I have, therefore, not included these two items 
in the cost. This cost of 41 cents per ton may be assumed 
to be the maximum for tube milling, owing to the very high 
cost of labor and freightage in the southern Nevada camps. 

I have already referred to filter pressing as an estab¬ 
lished practice in Australia. The press was never very 
po])ular in America and very few successful installations 
are recorded. The most notoA^ orthy, perhaps, is that at the 
Gold Boad mine, near Kingman, Arizona, where two five- 
ton Dehne presses have been successfully operating for 
some time. 

About three years ago ]Mr. George jMoore, after a series 
of failures in an attem])t to filter press slime at the mill of 
tlie Consolidated Mercur Coni])any, in Utah, devised a 
vacuum filter and installed a plant at the ^Mercur mill. 
This was the origin of the vacuum type of filter, recent 
modifications of which are installed at a number of mills 
in‘this country. Experiments recently made in Australia 
so far demonstrated the superiority of this method over all 
others, that it seems safe to predict the early passing of the 
press as a mere filtering machine. 








56 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


The unit of the ^foore filter is a rectaiit'ular wood frame 
eovered with canvas and provided with a vacnnni drain 
])ipe extendinii,' to the lowest point of the interior. These 
frames are pxinped together in clusters or ^Tiaskets/^ which 
are raised and loAvered by means of a hydranlic crane. 
When loAvered into a suitable ('ompartment containing the 
slime pulp, the vaiaium is a])plied to a common pipe con¬ 
nected Avitli each frame, the solution is drawm through the 
canvas, and a slime calv(‘ varying fi-oni live-eighths to 
seven-eighths inch in thickness is de])osited on each side 
of the filter frame. The cluster of filter frames cai'rying 
the charge of slime, weighing several tons, is then lifted 
from the pulp, shifted automatically to an adjoining com¬ 
partment containing the wash-, where it is again lowered, the 
vacuum applied, and the displacing operation carried on. 
The load is again raised and shifted to a bin, Avhere the 
cakes ave discharged by introducing air or water into the 
intei'ior of the frames. 

The objections to the Moore filter are the high first 
cost of the mechanism required to shift the slime load, and 
the high cost of maintenance. The unmechanical and cum¬ 
bersome features of this svstem led to the introduction bv 
Cassel of a stationarv filter, and the elimination of the aAvk- 
ward mechanism of the jMoore scheme. It remained for 
Butters to simplify the Oassel principle and so modify it as • 
to make it a pronounced success at his Virginia City plant. 
In the Butters filter, the leaves are set in a rectangular box 


or tank, the bottom of the box consisting of a series of 
])ointed pockets to facilitate the discharge of the spent 
cakes. The frames are approximately 5x10 feet, and con¬ 
sist of a piece of cocoa matting with a sheet of canvas 
'q nil ted on each side, the whole being sti'etched on a frame 
of half-inch pipe and securely sewed to this pipe frame, 
which, in turn,'is supported on a timber header. The bot¬ 
tom arm of the frame is 'perforated with small holes, 
through Avhich the solution enters the pipe when the 
vacuum is applied. On one side the ])ipe frame is projected 
thi’ongh the wooden header, and is connected Avith a com¬ 
mon ])ipe leading to the vacuum ])umj). The frames stand 
])arallel in the filter box at about four and one-qunrter-inch 
centers. The slime ])ulp is druwn from the slime reservoir 
and pumped into the bottom of the filter box until all the 
frames are immersed. The vacuum is then.applied until a 
cake of suitable thickness is deposited, and tlie excess of 


IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


•57 


pulp is then returned to the slime reservoir. This opera¬ 
tion is repeated for the wash, and the eake hnally dis- 
, charged into the bottom of the box by introdnciug water 
under a Ioav head into tlie interior of tlie leaves. The ae- 
enmnlaled cakes from each charge are removed by sluicing. 

Tliis system possesses the great advantage of sim])licity 
and low cost of maintenance. A plant of any size can be 
operated by one man, who stands on a ])latform on a level 
with the top of the filter box, and manipnlates the pumps 
with levers, and the vah es with a simple drum and sheave 
mechanism. 

The 200-ton plant of this type at the Butters Virginia 
City plant is operated at a cost of about 10 cents per ton 
of slime. At the Combination mill at Goldfield, Nevada, 
forty tons of slime per day are being filtered at a cost of 
about 45 cents per ton, as follows: 

' Three men at |4—112 per day—per ton...... f0.30 

12 horse-power, at f 11.25 per horse-poAver per 


month, per ton..11 

Lubricants and incidentals, per ton. • .04 


10.45 

This plant, however, has a capacity of fifty-six tons 
per day. If worked to its limit of capacity, this cost would 
be reduced to 31 cents per ton. The cost of filter pressing 
at the same plant in the early days of operation was ap- 
proximatelv $1 per ton. 

Tlie fifteen horse-poAver consumed are used for the fol- 
loAving purposes: 

Driving a 4-in. Butters centrifugal pump.' 

Operating a 12x10 Goulds vacuum pump. 

Operating a 2-in. centrifugal pump for raising the fil¬ 
tered solution to a claritying filter-press. 

Operating a. 2-in. centrifugal pump for returning the 
slime overflow from the leaching tanks to the slime-settlers. 

Operating stirring mechanism in tAVo slime reserAmir 
tanks, 14 ft. in diameter. 

The poAver may be distributed as folloAVs: 

For actual operation of filter, capa¬ 


city 50 tons per day.9 H.P. 

For agitating slime ])ump.3 H.P. 


For uses not connected Avith filter. .3 H.P. 

The CA^cle of operations in the Butters filter consumes 
about three hours and tAventy minutes. This Avill vary, of 
course, with the nature of tlie slime to be filtered. 








58 ’ 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Tliis t^'pe of filter has been installetl, or is in process 
of installation, at the following plants: 

Works of Chas. Itntters & Oo., Virginia City, Nevada. 

('oinbination mine, Cohlflehl, Nevada. 

At the two large Butters plants in Central America. 

Guadalupe mine, Inde, Durango, Mexico. 

Tonopah Mining Company, '^I'onopah, Nevada. 

Montana-Tonopah Mining Company, Tonopah, Nevada, 
and several other plants of wliich I have no record. 

Considering the rapid adoption of the vacuum filter, the 
prediction may safely be made that it will, before long, su¬ 
persede the old method of filter pressing and be accepted as 
the final solution of the slime problem. There are certain 
conditions, however, where the product to be handled is 
too low grade to admit even of vacuum filtering, and which 
require special study and a special process. The need of 
a special process to suit a unique condition was never bet¬ 
ter exemplified than in the case of the Ilomestake ore. 

I will not take up here a consideration of the difficult 
problems encountered and successfully solved by Mr. Mer¬ 
rill at the Homestake in the cyaniding of mill tailings, av¬ 
eraging less than $1.50 per ton in value. The next and most 
serious problem to engage his attention Avas the treatment 
of the slime, of Avhich 1,600 tons i^er day had been run to 
Avaste from the Homestake mills, of an average value of 
about 80 cents per ton. Mr. Merrill has deAdsed a filter 
press, the unique feature of Avhich is that it can be auto¬ 
matically discharged bA^ sluicing Avithout being opened, 
thus doing aAvay with the chief objection to the old tAqie of 
press, namely, the cost of operating. This press is of the 
common liusli plate and distance-frame pattern, but con¬ 
sists of much larger units. The dimensions of the press are 
asfolloAvs: 

Number of frames, 92. 

Size of frame, 4 ft. by 6 ft. . 

Length of press, 45 ft. 

Capacity of press, 26 tons. 

Weight of press, 65 tons. 

Thickness of cake, 4 inches. 

The slime pulp is admitted to this press through a con¬ 
tinuous channel at the center of the top of the frames. When 
the cake is formed, cyanide solution is forced into the cake 
through channels at the upper corners. 

At the bottom of the frames there extends a continu¬ 
ous channel, within which lies a sluicing pipe, proAdded 


IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CYANIDE PROCESS. 


59 


with nozzles which project into eaclt compartment. This 
pipe can be revolved through an arc of any magnitude, so 
as to play a stream into any part of the cake, washing it 
down into the annular space between the center channel and 
the sluicing pipe. Wlien the jiress is being filled and 
leached the discharge ends of this pipe are sealed. 

The method of operating is as folloAVs: 

The slime, after partial dewatering, consists of about 
three parts of water to one of solids. In this form it is 
charged by gravity to the presses at about thirty pounds 
pressure. The leaching with cyanide solution is done in 
the press, the effluent solutions being conducted to four pre¬ 
cipitating tanks, where the values are recovered by zinc 
dust. There is no power cost for agitating or elevating, 
except for elevating the solution to the press. There will 
be only six-tenths ton of solution handled per ton of slime, 
of which only three-tenths ton will be precipitated. All fil¬ 
tering will be done by gravity at a cost of 2 cents per ton. 

Tliis plant is being erected on the basis of tests made 
in a ten-ton ])ress of the type described. In all 1,291 tons 
were treated, with the following results: 

Per Ton. 

A verage assay value of slime before treatment fO.OL 
Average assav value of slime after treatment .10 
Extraction by assay |)er ton, 90 per cent. or. . .81 

Kecovered in precipitate per ton, 91 per cent. 


The following facts relating to this important installa¬ 
tion are of interest: 

Estimated cost of slime treatment. 

..25 cents per ton* 

Estimated ])rofit per year.|300,000 

Cost of plant. 400,000 

Cost of pipe lines. 50,000 

Area covered by ])laiit. . . .270 ft. by 65 ft. 

Area covered per ton of capacity.2 sq. yds. 

Cost of installation, per ton of ca¬ 
pacity .f300 

Filter press cost ])er ton of capacity. . 60 

Horse ])ower required, 1-10 TI.P. per ton of 
slime treated. 

Water required for sluicing, 4 tons of wa¬ 
ter to 1 ton slime. 

In the elaboration of the above ]>rocess and plant, j\rr. 
Merrill shares Avitli the projectors of the vacuum filter the 








60 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


« 


credit for the most noteworthy advance made in recent 
years in the nietalliiri>T of tlie cyanide process. His method 
is admirably adapted to Homestake conditions, and its 
striking economical features must appeal at once to every 
engineer and manager who concerns himself with such vital 
things as costs and iwofits. 

Whether an automatically discharged press can com¬ 
pete under average conditions with the vacuum filter re¬ 
mains to be seen. Much, of course, will depend upon local 
conditions, such as the natural site, the utilization of grav¬ 
ity for various operations, water facilities and water sup¬ 
ply, and the permeability of the material under treatment, 
as well as the rapidity with which it yelds up its mineral. 

Space will not permit me to touch upon zinc dust pre¬ 
cipitation further than to say that there is every indication 
that it will eventually take the place of zinc shavings in all 
plants of large capacity. Electric deposition offers a large 
and promising field for investigation, but has not as yet 
been worked out to a perfectly satisfactory conclusion. 

Recent advances in cyaniding mainly have to do with 
the finer reduction of the product to be treated. The treat¬ 
ment of sand by leaching will probably continue to be the 
best method iu a few instances, but no observer will deny 
that the trend of modern practice is toward fine grinding, 
and doing aAvay Avith leaching in tanks, a goal Avhich has 
been made possible by the introduction of the tube mill, 
and the very efficient filtering methods iioav in vogue. 




Mine Drainage Districts 


BY D. W. BRUNTON. 

Onr President states that I have been asked to intro¬ 
duce this subject because of my connection with different 
drainaoe enterprises, but I fail to see why boring a moun¬ 
tain to drain oft' an excessive water snpj)!}^ should give me 
the privilege of boring this audience and draining their 
stock of patience and good humor. 

As a presidential candidate once said about the tariff, 
mine drainage is entirely a local issue. In Nevada and 
Arizona an iindergronnd flow of water is welcomed, not 
only as a means of laying the irritating dust in the levels 
and stopes, but for the value the water has when brought to 
the surface, while in other sections of this country the cost 
of mining is often greatly increased and sometimes rendered 
prohibitive by the volume of water encountered. 

Where the countrv rock is exceedinglv dense and the 
mines consist of a number of disconnected individual As¬ 
sures, the drainage problem for each mine must be worked 
out separately, but in many districts, notably those where 
(he country rock, whether igneous or sedimentary, is i}er- 
meable; where open Assure veins intersect each other, form¬ 
ing a stoclvAvork, or where the mines as at LeadAdlle and 
Aspen are principally confined to one particular geological 
plane in Avhich the Assures and wafer courses inter-commn- 
nicate, no one mine can be drained Avithont affecting the 
Avater level in its immediate vicinity; nor is this result con- 
flned to mines immediately contiguous, but the drainage 
level on a A^arying hydraulic plane extends to great dis¬ 
tances from the central drainage point. 

Where individual drainage must be maintained for 
each mine, the question of joint drainage is not usually im¬ 
peratively necessary, although oftnn desirable, as, for in¬ 
stance, at Butte, where all the mines belonging to the Ana¬ 
conda company are drained by a joint pumping plant, rais¬ 
ing the water a distance of 1,900 feet to the level of the 
drainage tunnel, from whence it Aoaa^s out to the surface by 
gravity. From this pumping station over two miles of 
levels have been driven, tapping the many different mines 
and separate veins owned by the x\naconda company, thus 
enabling it to handle the Avater at a fraction of the cost pre- 
Amiling before the joint pumping plant was installed and 
connections made with all the mines in the group. 



/ 


62 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

Where the country rock is porous or the veins intersect 
each other at iinmerons points, a central drainage system, 
whether operated by gravity or power, will usually unwater 
all the mines in the vicinity Avithont the expense of running 
laterals for drainage, although in most instances the desire 
to explore the veins at the greatest possible depth will cause 
levels to be run from the loAvest point drained, for the dual 
])nrpose of transportation and ventilation. 

The great economy effected by the establishment of a 
common drainage svstem for an entire district AvhereA^er the 
conditions are favorable is so apparent that small individ¬ 
ual pumping plants'Avonld neA^er be considered Avere all the 
mines in the district controlled or managed by a single 
OAvner. Luckily, perhaps, for the business interests and 
Avelfare of the conntiw at large, the OAvnership of claims in 
the aA^erage mining camp is exceedingly numerous and scat¬ 
tered, blit unfortunately for the economical drainage and 
convenience of operating, it is often extremely difficult to 
harmonize these dwerse interests so that they will work 
together for the common good. 

In almost eA^ery wet mining camp to-daA" there Avill be 
found a feAA^ enterprising, energetic OAvners or companies 
pushing deA^elopment both horizontally and A^ertically, as 
fast as' their means and drainage facilities permit. Around 
these mines may be found a fringe of poorer or less enter¬ 
prising operators content to lag behind and Avork the ground 
opened by the receding Avater line lowered at the expense 
of another. 

Sometimes these parties are Avilling, but unable, to 
contribute anything toAAmrd the expense of drainage, Avhile 
maiiA" others are not onh^ aA^erse to assist, but are eager to 
profit by 'the expenditures of others. 

There is nothing unusual about this, as human nature 
is much the same Avhether the trait of selfishness is mani¬ 
fested underground or on the surface. , 

In eA^ery city we see men who are content to let their 
property lie idle and increase in Amine through the enter¬ 
prise of their neighbors. 

In countries Avhere SAvampy lands are common many 
oAvners are also Avilling to profit by the drainage of con¬ 
tiguous property. 

To correct these frailties and to equalize in some meas¬ 
ure the cost, as well as the benefits of desirable or necessary 
improAmments, improvement districts in cities, and drain¬ 
age districts in the conntrA-haAm been, created, bA^ laAvs 
which, while they properly conserve and safeguard the 


MINE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS. 


65 


rights of the individual, justly apportion the costs among 
different owners, of work carried on for the benelit of all. 

In mining operations the advantages of a common 
drainage system wherever possible Avould seem so great 
that it might be thonght that no legal enactments conipel- 
ling joint action would be necessary. This, hoAvever, is not 
the case, as in most instances there will be found in a dis¬ 
trict owners willing and anxious to go into any combina¬ 
tion which would enure to their common benelit; other ovcn- 
ers perfectly willing, but financially unable to do this with¬ 
out incurring a debt which they are unwilling to assume, 
and, unfortunately, still another class absolutely unwilling 
to take any action whatever, hoping in the end to benefit by 
the enterprise, expenditure and labor of their neighbors. 
Even in a district where all the owners fully appreciate the 
necessity for joint action and are willing to partici])ate in 
it, a difficulty still arises which has prevented the inaugura¬ 
tion of many a promising drainage scheme, viz., the diffi¬ 
culty of making such an apportionment of tlie expenses as 
will satisfy each individual. Naturally enough, m^iiy own¬ 
ers feel that through some vagary of nature or chance of 
location, their neighbor mav receive earlier or greater bene- 
fits from the ])rojected improvements than themselves, and 
as a consequence joint action is often delayed beyond the 
most seasonable period in the life of the district or perhaps 
postponed altogether. 

In Cripple Greek to-day there is not a single owner of 
any importance or intelligence Avho doubts the desirability 
or even the absolute necessity of adopting a common drain¬ 
age scheme for the entire district, and yet action has been 
delayed from month to month because no basis for appor¬ 
tioning the expense has yet been devised, which has proven 
satisfactorv to all. 

In this district where the volume of Avater is so great 
that it requires the remoAml of about 00,000,000 gallons to 
lower the Avater level one vertical foot the cost of raising 
the water to the surface even by a joint pumping plant 
Avould be practically prohibitive and a less expeditious, but 
more economical, plan for unwatering the mines must be 
adopted. 

A drainage tunnel 18,200 feet in length aa hich could be 
driven in two and one-half years at a cost of half a million 
dollars would partially unAvater a productive area of about 
5,000 acres comprising the richest ground in the district to 
a depth of 1,100 feet beloAV the present Avater level and a 
12,000-foot extension of this bore Avould completely drain 


G4 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

the entire district at an additional cost of f3()0,000, making 
the total expenditure only f800,000. 

The enactment of a drainage law Avoiild render this 
work immediately possible and the cost of the undertaking 
AAmuld be a mere bhgatelle compared with tlie benefits tliat 
Avould accrue to the mine oAvners, to the district, and to the 
state, from the addition of tAA"enty-live years to the life of 
the greatest gold mining district on the continent. 

Cripple Greek is far from being the. only district in tliis 
position; in fact, there is scarcely a AA^et camp in this coun¬ 
try where the majority of the oAAmers AAmuld not AA^elcome 
the passage of a uniform laAA^ legalizing the creation of 
drainage districts on similar lines to the improvement dis¬ 
tricts in the cities and the drainage districts in the South. 

Your committee has given the drafting of such a laAV a 
great deal of study during the past four months and the 
result of our Avork Avill be read to you by the secretary, Avho 
with our attorney, Mr. K. S. Morrison, has spent a vast 
amount of time and thought on this question, so much so, 
that the remainder of the committee had but little to do ex¬ 
cept to criticize and suggest, something A^ery different from 
originating a bill so complicated and important. 

THE PRESIDENT : The unfinished business to come before this meet¬ 
ing is a discussion of a question of creating mine drainage districts, which 
was presented by Mr. Brim ton last evening. The question is now open 
for discussion. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I am not well 
enough informed in regard to the proposed law to express any particular 
opinion, but I would like to ask a couple of questions. Presumably, the 
committee has considered the subject matter and will be able to answer 
directly. The first is whether or not the committee has considered as to 
the matter of the possibility of a property within a drainage district not 
receiving any drainage therefrom, and whether there ougnt not to be some 
provision relieving such a property from taxation for the cost of drainage, 
whatever it may be. I do not know whether I have made the question 
dlear or not, but I will try and state it a little briefer. In any drainage 
district that might be provided for under the law there may be properties 
taxed, which receive no benefit whatever from the construction of the 
drainage system and the question is whether or not the committee has 
considered that some provision ought to be made to relieve that partic¬ 
ular property from the cost of an improvement which is of no benefit 
whatever to it. 

The other point is that, unquestionably, a great many districts may 
be drained by a tunnel which, after its completion, might be used as a 
transportation tunnel, and I would like to ask whether or not the commit¬ 
tee has considered the possible use of the tunnel for transportation pur¬ 
poses and the revenue that might be derived therefrom—whether the 
proposed law should not specifically provide or give authority for operat¬ 
ing such a tunnel as a transportation tunnel in case conditions permit 
it, and specifically provide for the use of the revenue tnat might come 
therefrom. 


MINE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS. 


65 


THE PRESIDENT: Are there any further remarks upon this ques¬ 
tion? These are pertinent questions that have just been asked. 

MR. BRUNTON: With regard to the point of whether a mine 
should be relieved from the payment of its portion of the taxes because 
it receives no benefit, that has been very thoroughly considered. Every 
mining man knows full well that nobody ever received any benefit from 
pumping plants or tunnels constructed by his neighbor. Even’when 
mines that have been under water for years are drained, the neighbor will 
deny flat-footed that they have received any benefit. Of course they do 
this simply for the purpose of evading the payment of a portion of 
the expense. I do not think any exception of that kind should be made, 
because it would bring about endless litigation. Every mine inside of a 
prescribed area should pay its pro rata, whether it can be proved to have 
received benefit or not. There is no doubt on that question. Everyone 
who has ever been connected with drainage enterprises knows that, as I 
said before, no one will ever own up,.ex’cept in very isolated cases, to hav¬ 
ing received any benefit from a neighbor’s draining system. 

MR. DANIELS OP COLORADO: Should not the supervisors that 
are provided for in the act as recommended be the ones to decide whether 
any particular property has received benefit or not and whether it should 
be relieved from taxation or not. It seems to me that a very material 
injustice to some, possibly very few, that might be included in the drain¬ 
age district. As I said, I am not well posted in the matter, and what I 
say is off-hand, but it seems to me that a provision might be made in a 
law of that kind that would leave the decision with the supervisors, sub¬ 
ject, of course, to an appeal to the courts, so as to bring about exact jus¬ 
tice in the matter. I certainly can appreciate that if I were the owner 
of a mine and I had contributed to the construction of a drainage tunnel 
which did not help my property, I should think it was unfair to compel me 
to pay a portion of the expense of draining someone else’s property. I 
would kindly ask you to repeat what you said in regard to transportation. 

I didn’t hear it. 

MR. BRUNTON OF COLORADO: No provision is made in the pres¬ 
ent bill for the use of the tunnel for the purposes of transportation or any 
income that would come from such use. That probably should be added 
to the bill; but with regard to the other, the bill provides-that the com¬ 
pensation of the supervisors shall not exceed $500 a year. If the matter 
of judgment as to whether any particular mine had received any benefit 
from the drainage had to be decided by the supervisors, they would have 
to be paid an amount necessary to enable them to neglect all their other 
business and no nothing else. That is certain. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Excuse my persistence, but if the 
drainage is worth the sum that is claimed for it, might not that district 
have to pay a good deal more than $500 each to the proper men to act 
as supervisors; or, if that, possibly, is an insuperable objection, why not 
then refer the decision as to whether a property is benefited or not 
directly "to the courts? 

MR. BRUNTON: I would say in reply to that that I think the gen¬ 
tleman misunderstands the question. Now, in the case of any particular 
mine in which the water level was not lowered by a pumping plant or a 
tunnel, the obvious remedy would be to connect that mine with the pump¬ 
ing station or the tunnel level. That would not require anywhere near 
the amount of expense that would have been necessary originally before 
'the tunnel or pumping plant was installed. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: One more question. Suppose that 
this property that is not benefited can not reach that pumping station or 
drainage tunnel without crossing other property, how could that private 
individual or private corporation cross those properties against the will, 
perhaps, of the owners, under your proposed legislation 


66 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


MR. BRUNTON OF COLORADO: The remedy in that case is doubt¬ 
less by individual' contract with the drainage company. 

MR. GEORGE COLLINS OF COLORADO: From conversation I haVe 
had with various people interested in the question of mine drainage, it 
seems to be the general concensus of opinion that this is the first leally 
practical plan that has ever been brought up to solve the question of 
co-operative drainage, and while of course I am not in any way competent 
to pass upon the legal status of this proposed act, from the point of view 
of an engineer it seems a very practicable thing. But there is one point 
I notice in the draft here which seems to me likely to tend to restrict its 
utility. It is proposed in section 1 that the petition for a district organiza¬ 
tion must be made by not less than* ten persons owning an aggregate area 
of not less than 320 acres. Now, in most cases where it is proposed that 
the method of drainage shall be by tunnel I suppose the district affected 
would be equal to or in excess of 320 acres, but there are a great number 
of cases where the drainage would be by shaft where so large an area as 
320 acres might not be directly benefited. 

There is another point to be considered. In some of the older dis¬ 
tricts, and iDarticularly some of the older districts in this state, the impor¬ 
tance of mining property might almost be said to be in inverse proportion 
to its size. In Gilpin county, for instance, one of the districts that might 
be greatly benefited by drainage enterprises, most of the older and more 
important claims are only fifty feet in width. There are a great many of 
the most important properties in Gilpin county the total surface of which 
is less than one acre. It seems to me that it is a mistake to provide that 
the petition must be supported by the owners of 320 acres of land; it 
ought rather to be the owners of the most important properties. I would 
suggest, as a much more practical plan, that the petition should be sup¬ 
ported by owners representing a given proportion of the total assessed 
valuation of the area that they propose to make their drainage district. 
It is well known that in some cases, directly an important mine is devel¬ 
oped the surrounding acreage is taken up by other people, frequently 
speculators, with the object of benefiting by its expenditures and the en¬ 
terprise of its owners. To provide that the whole thing should depend 
on acreage would practically take the question of whether or not you are 
to have drainage districts from the hands of the enterprising people and 
put it into those of speculators who may have taken up a large area 
merely for the sake of the territory. I can see no possible objection to 
changing the basis tO' a proportion of the valuation of the proposed dis¬ 
trict. In any case, it seems to me that as large a minimum area as 320 
acres to be represented in the original petition would in many cases re¬ 
strict the application of the act altogether, because in some cases less than 
320 acres will be benefited by the proposed scheme. 

MR. JOSEPH OF UTAH: I presume this is not merely a local prop¬ 
osition. It doesn’t apply to Colorado alone. We in Utah have some prob¬ 
lems to solve, and one question presents itself to me, and probably one 
in which the Utah delegation, in presenting this matter to our Legis¬ 
lature will be called upon to answer. That is, respecting the taxation 
upon the properLes which are to be benefited. There may be in a drain¬ 
age district a great number of locations, taking the minimum amount of 
drainage embraced in the proposed drainage district, as 320 acres, which 
means about sixteen claims, under the new law, or about fifty claims un¬ 
der the old law—the law of 1873. Now, I would like to know from the 
committee as to what solution they have for the proposition as to the tax¬ 
ation on mining claims which are merely locat,ions and upon which the 
title still rests in the government of the United State's. Section 18 pro¬ 
vides for taxation on the property—I will read it. (Reads section 18.) 

Now, I don’t know how the law is in Colorado, but I know how it is 
in Utah. Locations are not taxed. The assessments on locations are not 
put on the books of the assessor. Now, how this tax is going to be col¬ 
lected or will be a lien upon the property is more than I can see, because 


MINE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS. 


67 


if the location should lapse the title would then revert to the United 
States government, and nO' lien can hold as against the government. I 
would like to be enlightened upon that proposition. I presume that the 
committee that formulated this bill or plan had in mind districts in which 
all the claims were patented, but I would like to know how it would be in 
districts where they would not be all patented, as to how this tax would 
be collected and how the lien would operate. 

MR. BRUNTON: I would say that the paragraph was worded in that 
particular way sO' .that any state taking up this bill could vary it to suit 
the legal requirements of that state. This is merely a draft intended to 
give us some basis for discussion. 

MR. JOSEPH OF UTAH: Can you suggest any plan as to how we 
should present it to our Legislature? 

MR. BRUNTON: I wouldn’t like to do it^off-hand. 

MR. JOSEPHS: I think the committee should give this matter some 
consideration, because it is of very vital importance. I know it is in our 
state. We are a young state yet, although prominent in the mining world, 
but there are a great many claims in districts which need drainage that 
are not patented and that will necessarily get the benefit of this law. 
While I am in hearty sympathy with the tenor of the law, I would like to 
have the ground fully covered before I am ready to vote on it and take 
it back to my state and say that it is a law that we ought to have. 

MR. CALLBREATH: May I answer the question in part? The com¬ 
mittee, in the preparation of this law, had in mind the reaching for every 
bit of ownership which any man in that district possessed. As Mr. Jo 
sephs has w’ell said, it is impossible for us to enact any law which will 
create a lien against the property of the government of the United States, 
and therefore the owner of a claim in a district may have his interest in 
that claim taxed, and his interest in that claim sold to meet that tax, and 
if there is no purchaser foT* that interest the tax on that particular bit of 
property would fail. The committee had in mind reaching just as far as 
it could in gathering in aP the property which might lie within the bounds 
of any particular district. If it should happen that all of the property in 
a district with the exception of one or two claims should belong to the 
United States government, it would be impossible to create a drainage 
district at that place, and it is only where a majority of the owners are 
willing to go ahead and create the mine drainage system that this plan 
can be carried out. The idea is that you may tax only the interest of the 
individuals who have these claims, and for the purpose of recovering the 
money necessary to meet these costs you can sell the owner’s interest in 
such claims, and if there is no purchaser for that, the tax for that particu¬ 
lar part of the district must fail. The committee could go no further in 
the preparation of this law. 

MR. PECK'OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I have glanced over 
the proposed drainage law somewhat, and w^e might as well begin with 
section 1, which seems to me to be open to some criticism. Section 1 pro¬ 
vides that the minimum drainage area shall be 320 acres, I believe that 
is entirely, too small for the original area to be, because in section 8 it 
provides that the boundaries may be diminished but they can not be en¬ 
larged. I can see where it might be possible for conflicting drainage 
areas to work a hardship upon the mine owners of any particular district, 
inasmuch as this law proposes to make this a municipality. I think that 
section 8 should provide that the drainage area could me enlarged as well 
diminished, and I think it should prescribe some mode of procedure for 
either enlarging or diminishing a drainage area. 

Section 13 provides that after a drainage district has been established 
the petitioners shall file with the district judge the names of fifteen per¬ 
sons to act as trustees or supervisors, and that this judge shall select five 
of those men to serve for a term of one, two, three, four and five years 


C8 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


resp^ectively. After that time the vacancies are filled by the district judge. 
I do not think the vacancies should be filled in that way. I think they 
should be filled by an election of the mine owners within the drainage 
district voting according to the acreage held by each. 

Section 15 gives that particular Board of Directors absolute power 
to determine the system of drainage and assess the costs; and sections 
16 and 17 gives this board the power to let all contracts, employ all labor, 
contract all bills, and the mine owners must pay them and have absolutely 
no voice whatever in the matter; there is no provision whereby this board 
shall account to anyone, and section 18 gives them power to issue bonds, 
and those bonds become a lien upon the property within the drainage 
district. In many cases the officers of mining companies (and section 13 
contemplates they can be supervisors) absolutely have no knowledge of 
the requirements of mining. I think that Board of Supervisors should be 
an elective board, and that it be taken entirely out of the hands of an in¬ 
dividual. 

As to section 23, it seems to me that section is entirely surplusage, 
because prior to this time each drainage district has become a municipal 
government, and I believe that all that is covered by section 23 is now 
covered by the statutes of this state and the law of eminent domain. 
I am not speaking from the standpoint of a lav.^yer, because I 
am not a. lawyer; I am only a miner; but I do know some¬ 
thing about the requirements of mining districts. In districts where 
they are now pumping water, as Leadville for instance, there are 
cases where the pumping stations are handling the water for a 
large area. The pumping stations are owned and controlled and operated 
by individuals who are footing the bills, but how are you going to get a 
drainage area established when it requires ten names and when less than 
ten persons are now paying for the pumping for the entire district. Those 
other fellows are not going to apply for a drainage district to make them 
stand their part of the expense unless they have to. It seems to me that 
we should have a law making it possible for a private corporation to 
inaugurate a drainage system, establish their boundaries, or the mine 
owners establish their boundaries, and that such corporation should be 
given the right of eminent domain for drainage or transportation ‘tun¬ 
nels, and they should receive compensation from the properties drained, 
and such corporation should be protected the same as all public utility 
corporations, and should be able to collect a fair compensation for services 
rendered. I believe that the properties drained should pay whether they 
are producers or not. It is just as essential that the properties should be 
drained during the period of development as after they are producing 
mines. In all ihining districts we have a well known water level, it 
varies but very little between any of the properties. It is not hard to 
determine w^here that water level is, and I think that a board should 
be appointed consisting of the state engineer, an engineer selected by the 
mine owners of the district, the two to select a third, and they to deter¬ 
mine to what depth the general water level is reached, or at what depth 
the various properties should be taxed. I don’t think it is equitable for 
any property to be assessed for drainage that is working above the 
known water level,* regardless of what the production of that property 
may be. I think the proposed bill in regard to the selection of the super¬ 
visors should certainly be changed. It provides that the judge—and it 
don’t say what mode of procedure shall be adopted—can reduce or dimin¬ 
ish this drainage area. He can dp it at any time, so far as I can see in 
this bill, and a comparatively few people be forced to foot the bills. 
Those things seem td me to be impracticable and unjust. I think there 
should be some mode of procedure mapped out in a bill of this kind pro¬ 
viding for all those things, which this bill does not seem to do; this comes 
under the head of municipal, a government which is absolutely controlled 
by one man; a district judge of that district, who shall appoint people 
who are to determine the drainage system, and who shall ,also designate 
those who are too foot the bills and who will place practically a mortgage 


MINE DRAINAGE DISTRICTS. 


69 


upon our properties. Section 16 provides that this hoard shall adver¬ 
tise what they are going to do and notify the mine owners of what 
they shall do. What good does that section do? The mine owners simply^ 
receive notice that they are going to do a certain thing, without any 
means of altering that thing which they propose to do, there is no pro¬ 
vision for review or appeal. 

I should dislike to see this bill become a law; I am not able to draft 
a bill, but believe if we could get a law that would make it possible for 
private individuals or corporations to collect lor drainage we would soon 
have all the drainage systems necessary. 

MR. J. P. HEIMER OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I presume we 
could spend the entire time of this Congress in picking exceptions to this 
bill that has been drawn so carefully by the committee. I have not heard 
a single objection with the proper remedy suggested but what that rem¬ 
edy would be open to criticism more than anything that appears in the 
bill as drafted by the committee. As to unpatented mining ground, the 
Secretary has answered that as well as it could be answered, in my Judg¬ 
ment, at least. Now, as to the water level, the gentleman applies the re¬ 
marks, I presume, to the local districts of Leadville. We all know that 
in other districts at least, at different times in the year—and the mines 
are operated as much in the winter months and in the springtime as much 
as at any other time—the water level would vary from one to two hundred 
feet. I know that it is true in the Black Hills; and I know also that it is 
true the water level would vary at any time of the year from 50 to 200 feet 
at the same season of the year at points 200 feet apart. So it seems to 
me that we are spending a great deal of valuable time without very much 
progress. 

MR. DE LAVERGNE OF COLORADO: I do not understand that sec¬ 
tion 1 intends to prescribe the limits of a district to 320 acres, as the 
gentleman from Leadville seems to infer; but what I rise to say is this: 

I have had a little experience just along the line that he suggests as to 
how you are going to get ten men to sign a petition when one man is 
doing all the pumping. I will tell you what I did. I succeeded a former 
manager who was pumping for almost the entire Cripple Creek district, 
and the surrounding mines’were patting the management on the back and 
telling them what good mining superintendents and managers they were 
because they were draining all the property, and that system was fol¬ 
lowed until they were fifty thousand dollars in debt. I shut the mine 
down, shut the pumping down at once, and it-was but a very short lime 
until all the neighbors were ready to come in and help contribute to the 
cost of drainage. Let them experience some of the difficulties you are 
laboring under and they will help you. . Mining men are selfish, and it will 
be miraculous if we do not get some selfish persons in this Mining Con¬ 
gress who would oppose all these drainage systems, and I want to say to 
you that until you touch a man’s pocket he is not very much interested 
in how you succeed. We must have some law that will be for the general 
good. In making improvements of a public character in the city you are 
bound to injure some persons, but the general good demands it. We can 
not make a rule that will work to the interest of every individual. We 
have had a sad experience of this character in the Cripple Creek district. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: The questions that I asked are not 
intended in any way as a criticism or in opposition to the report. I dis¬ 
agree with my friend over here who says wo are wasting time. If we 
are not to discuss the matter of this legislation and decide as to what 
is best we should have adopted the report of the committee before it 
was presented and given them Authority to go ahead with it. I am in 
favor of the report of the committee, but I would like to see it improved 
if it can be brought out in this meeting that there is room for improve¬ 
ment. I disagree with the gentleman from Leadville in regard to his 
opinion that a property which is not working below' any certaip water level 
should not be taxed. I believe that the provision for taxation requiring 


70 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


the taxes to be levied on all mining property within any prescribed dis¬ 
trict is correct. Yon might as well say that we should not tax a certain 
property owner for the construction of roads because he does not use 
them. The roads are there for him to use, and it benefits his property, 
and he should help to pay the expense, and the same exactly is true of 
mining property. Whether the property is worked or not, whether it is 
improved or developed or not, it certainly is benefited by a proper drain¬ 
age system, and it increases the value of the property and the owner 
should pay his portion of the taxes. It has occurred to me, however, dur¬ 
ing the discussion, that there should be a provis'ion in the bill for en¬ 
larging the drainage district, under proper notice, of course, to all in¬ 
terested. because the converse of the question I asked a while ago might 
develop, and that is that a certain drainage system might drain property 
outside of the drainage district, and in that case there should be some pro¬ 
vision by which that property could be taken into the drainage district 
and compelled to pay its portion of the costs in justice to all concerned. 

Now, in reference to section 16, I think the objection made by the 
gentleman is not valid, and that is that after a system of drainage is de¬ 
cided upon and the owners notified they are powerless. I am not an at¬ 
torney, and I would like to ask our Secretary, who I believe is an attorney, 
if any one who felt aggrieved has not the right of appeal to the courts, 
even though it is not specifically provided for in this proposed bill. 

MR. CALLBREATH: No question about it. 

f 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: That is my understanding, and I 
believe the rights of the property owner are not protected under that sec¬ 
tion. 

So far as the question of eminent domain is concerned, that section is 
superfluous, at least in Colorado, because in Colorado under a' recent de¬ 
cision of the Supreme Court mining and drainage tunnels have the right 
of eminent domain. The Supreme Court recently sustained Judge Ste¬ 
vens in the southern part of the state giving that right to a drainage tun¬ 
nel company in that district, 

MR. CALLBREATH: May I answer one .or two inquiries that have 
been made? First, as to the provision for enlarging the district. You 
can well understand that it would be impossible after the district had 
once been formed and the owners of that district had due, legal notice of 
that fact that it v/as proposed to tax them, to thereafter enlarge the dis¬ 
trict and bring under that legal proceeding men who had not had this 
legal notice. If it should appear that the drainage district should be en¬ 
larged, the only method by which that can be accomplished is to cancel 
the proceedings that far and make a petition for a new district in which 
all of those you expect to tax shall have legal notice. If you put a bur¬ 
den of taxation upon any man who had not had proper legal notice it will 
be possible for him to effectively protest against the proceedings if he saw 
fit to do so. 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Couldn’t there be a provision for 
a legal notice of the enlargement that would answer the same purpose as 
the original notice? 

I 

MR. CALLBREATH: That might be, but it would be just as simple 
to give a new notice to all of the parties in the district and the petition 
for a new district. It might be that men who are willing to become a 
part of a described drainage district would be unwilling to be part of a 
larger drainage district, so that every man should have notice of that 
particular improvement for which he is expected to pay. It would be 
easier to discontinue the proceedings and begin over again with a new 
petition. 

I want to say a word as to the filling of these vacancies and as to the 
men who are to be named as supervisors. It is provided that those in¬ 
terested in the district shall present a list of fifteen names to the judge 


MINE DRAINAGE DI&TRIGTS. 


71 


of the district court, and from that list the judge is to appoint five. Now, 
those five as clearly represent the best interests of that district as it 
could possibly be made, and when vacancies are to be filled the judge is. 
to choose the men to fill the vacancies from the list provided by the men 
interested in the district. 

\ 

MR. PARKER OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I thought it might 
expedite the discussion of this proposed bill by taking it up by sections 
and anyone having amendments to propose to present those amendments 
in writing and then speak to them if they so desire so that we can have 
the Congress pass upon them and avoid a lot of general discussion which 
does not bring things to a head. I would like to make that as a motion, 
that it be taken up by sections. 

The motion was duly seconded, put by the president and declared 
carried. 

DR. HOLMES: Mr. President, Ladies'and Gentlemen: I would like 
to make one suggestion, and I will make it in a formal motion, which I 
believe will expedite the business of this Congress. We do not want to do 
anything hurriedly, but to do everything thoroughly. The motion is as 
follows—that all amendments to this proposed law be submitted in writing 
and turned over to the chairman of that committee; that is, that the re¬ 
port, together with all these amendments, to be returned to the chairman 
of that committee, to be discussed by the committee; that parties who 
wish to argue their amendments argue them before the committee at a 
session this afternoon, and that the committee’s report, for the further 
consideration of these amendments, be brought back to this body to-mor¬ 
row morning, and after that is disposed of, if that motion is agreed to, it 
could be followed by a motion that the proposed law by Governor Pardee 
be then reported to this conference so that we can have some preliminary 
discussion of that, and if some further delay is necessary in that, that in 
turn can be returned to the committee for action again to-morrow. I 
then offer this motion—that all amendments be handed in in writing to 
the chairman of that committee; that they then be considered, together 
w’ith the law itself, by the committee and reported back to this Con¬ 
gress with recommendations to-morrow morning. 

Motion seconded. 

A DELEGATE: I would like to ask how many of this committee are 
present. 

THE PRESIDENT: The majority of the committee are here. 

THE PRESIDENT: It has been moved and seconded that all amend¬ 
ments be submitted in writing to the committee; that any discussion of 
those amendments desired to be presented to the committee, and that the 
committee, after further consideration, report back with their recommen¬ 
dations to the session to-morrow morning. Are you ready for the ques¬ 
tion? 

MR. CALLBREATH: May I suggest that this motion b^ amended so 
as to have those recommendations returned this evening. To-morrow 
morning has been set aside for the reading of a paper by Senator De La- 
vergne, and discussion on that, and in view of the fact that Mr. Guiter- 
man is expected to be present at that meeting to discuss the same ques¬ 
tion I think it would be unwise to force that discussion to another time. 

MR. FREEMAN MORNINGSTAR, UTAH: I would suggest that 
in making any amendments to this bill, inasmuch as considerable time 
has been given to the matter by our Board of Directors and those who 
have had it in charge in preparing it, while additions might properly be 
made, yet to change the present wording of the document might raise 
havoc, because considering it in a rather impromptu manner is not nearly 
as good as the consideration the bill has already had. 

MR. 1. F. PECK OF COLORADO: I would like to offer an amend¬ 
ment that this be laid over until Friday morning instead of to-morrow 


72 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


• 

morning.. I believe in drainage districts and drainage district laws—and 
I want to correct the idea that I am from Leadville, because I am not. 
But I can say that Leadville is affected as much as any mining camp in 
the state. I think the members of this association should have a 
little more time to consider this and get it before the convention a little 
more intelligently. To-morrow morning is rather a short time. 

DR. HOLMES: I am informed by the chairman of the committee 
that he is compelled to leave by to-morrow evening. I would therefore ac¬ 
cept the amendment offered by the Secretary for this evening at 8 o”clock. 

THE PRESIDENT: Mr. R. S. Morrison, one of the most eminent min¬ 
ing authorities in the West, will assist the committee. 

Gentlemen, you have heard the motion, with the amendment offered 
by the Secretary, which has been accepted by Dr. Holmes, that the com¬ 
mittee report at 8 o’clock this evening instead of to-morrow morning. All 
those in favor of that motion will so signify by saying, “Aye;” opposed, 
“No.” The ayes seem to have it; the ayes have it, and motion is carried 


The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelting 

Trust and the Ore Producer 


BY SENATOR E. M. DE LA VERGNE. 

It is with much diffidence that I undertake to i)resent 
to 3^011 views upon a subject of so much interest, of so much 
importance, so vast and complicated, and one affecting the 
happiness and t)rosperity of so great a number of persons 
who are interested in the great a\ ork of discovering, disclos¬ 
ing, developing and husbanding tlie various and valuable 
deposits our Creator has so carefully yet so wisely con¬ 
cealed. I am well aware that there are many under the 
sound of my voice who are much more capable of handling 
this subject, but I hope in a, plain, simi)le manner to suffi¬ 
ciently bring before you opinions, and call to your attention 
a number of wrongs, with suggestions as to righting them, 
which mav have the effect of stimulating a discussion on all 
of these matters relating to the partnership existing be¬ 
tween the producer and the consumer. I sa,y x)iirtnership; 
while this may not be the proper Avord to exxAress our rela¬ 
tions, yet our forced relations are such that it is difficult to 
separate the business of mining, milling, refining and mar¬ 
keting minerals that I think I may be x)ardoned for desig¬ 
nating it as such. And Avhere Ave disagree and Avhere the 
various grievances are the most prominent, is in the deter- ' 
minatiou of the ALaliies and the distribution of the profits. I 
do not think the most sanguine among the ore producers 
hope for perfect satisfaction in determining results of val¬ 
ues, especially upon the more precious metals. ‘ We should 
be satisfied if we receiA^ed the average value of our various 
shipments, and I think the most of the producers Avould or 
should be. 

But among the small shippers, both from lessees and 
small producers, and especiallj^ where frequent small ship¬ 
ments from pockets of rich ore are made and Avhere there is 
no succeeding shipment to folloAv, there is nothing to aver¬ 
age, therefore the producer is usually dissatisfied. I knoAv 
the producer often has an exaggerated idea of the value of 
his production, caused from various conditions and circum¬ 
stances surrounding him; among the most common error 



74 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


that iiiauy shippers have is a failure to properly sample; 
and a more common and more serious fault, a failure to se¬ 
lect conscientious and competent assayers. 

While the producer has his troubles and because of 
the risk, disappointments, hardships and various other con¬ 
ditions too numerous to mention, he has the sympathy of 
the public; but we must not forget that the lot of the buyer 
and sampler is not altogether a happy one. He must neces¬ 
sarily protect himself against the dishonest and unscrupu- 
‘ lous who are always ready to take advantage of any o^ipor- 
tunitv to realize an excessive value. He must therefore ap- 
pear to confiding, honest xiersons as unnecessarily susj)i- 
cious. This is not a ideasant position to be placed in. 

I have been mining and disposing of ores for various 
companies and mj^self for the past twenty-five years and I 
nnust confess that until within the past eighteen months my 
relations, with mills, smelters and samplers liave been such 
as to inspire confidence, but when these conditions change, 

one will naturallv look around to see what are the circum- 

»• 

stances that bring them about. I have alwavs watched with 
great interest the changes that were gradually taking place 
in the manner of determining ore values with imj)roved ma¬ 
chinery appliances for automatic sampling and the. contin¬ 
ual change from old to new processes in smelting, all of 
wliich result in facilitating the handling of large amounts 
of ore at a much reduced expense. I am of the opinion that 
the itroducer has received his proportion of the saving, but 
I have also noted with no little concern the fact tliat com¬ 
petition was gradually fading away. That the regard of 
the good will of the producer was going with it. I have 
seen the great and expensive smelters that were erected by 
strong corporations, dismantled, and only those mighty 
stacks left as a monument to the late lamented and de¬ 
parted competition. I understand that in some of the min¬ 
ing camps of the southwestern part of this state, competi¬ 
tion has still a struggling existence and that ore can and is 
being shipped to the American Smelting and Refining Com¬ 
pany’s plants near Salt Lake and sold largely to the interest 
of the producer. I believe this is largely due to the differ¬ 
ence in the prices paid for lead and copper, «and to the fact 
that in Utah strong competition compels the buyer to accept 
smaller profits. We congratulate our friends from Utah 
upon the fact that the trust has not yet put an end to legit¬ 
imate competition in their state. I have previously stated 
tliat the good will of the producer is not now considered as 
it wavS in the past, and as evidence of that I will quote from 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS. 


75 


an order issued by the American Smelting- and Kefining 
Company May 12, 190(). This document is entitled ^M’roced- 
ure to Be Used in Sampling and Settling of Ores Shipped 
to The American Smelting and Behning Company.'^ 

“FIRST: All consignments shall be settled on the basis of the 
weight, moisture and samples obtained by the Company. 

“SECOND: A sample composing 1/25 of the entire lot will be cut 
out by the Company and all its samples shall be made from this; the 
1/25 to be held until settlement assays shall be determined.” 

The fourth clause says: 

“Ores sampled in transit, it will be optional with the shipper to have 
the sampling works send to its representative at the smelter, the cer¬ 
tificate of assay giving the results of the sampling at the sampler, with 
instructions to its sampling representative to deliver to the Smelting 
Company such assay certificate as the sample of the lot delivered to him 
at the sampler’s works. If, however, such certificate be not delivered at 
or about the time the sampling of the lot is delivered to the shipper’s 
representative, no resampling vWill be made. Should the average of re¬ 
sults obtained by the Smelting Company from its sample be greater than 
ten per cent, of the final assay, as shown on such certificate received, a 
resample shall be called for in all cases; but if the assay is within ten 
per cent, of the certificate, assay settlement shall be made on the split of 
the assays of the Smelting Company and the shipper on the Smelting 
Company’s sample or on the umpire results as usual. • 

“If on a resample the assay result obtained by the Smelting Company 
shall be within ten per cent, of the original assay obtained by it or the 
original assay shown on the sampling works or umpire certificate, then 
shall settlement be made on this resample in like manner as above noted 
for the original sample. Otherwise a second resample shall be made. In 
case a second resample, if required as above, should check any of the 
sample results within ten per cent., then shall such sample be considered 
final and settlement be made in like manner as above noted for the origi¬ 
nal sample. 

Ores Not Sampled in Transit. 

“If a resample is called for, such resample will be made, but if the 
assay results obtained by the Smelting Company on this resample are 
greater than ten per cent, of its assay on the original sample, another 
resample shall be called for; but if the assay is within ten per cent, of 
its assay on the original sample, settlement shall be made on the split of 
the assays of the Smelting Company and the shipper on such sample or 
on the umpire "results. 

“In case a second resample, if required as above, should check either 
of the first sample results, or the second sample results within ten per 
cent., then shall such sample be considered final and settlement be made.” 

I 

Da 3^011 suppose siieli an arbitraiy and unjust order 
would have been issued if the smelter had a due regard for 
the shippers opinion? A short time after this order went 
into effect the sani])lers made a rule that where the 3 ^ pur¬ 
chased the ore, the 3 ^ would charge f 1.00 per ton for sampling 
where before they had charged 60 to 65 cents per ton. 

Wliether these conditions exist or not outside of the 
Cripple Creek mining district I do not know, but I do know 
that in other localities there are complaints of discrimina¬ 
tions against the shipper of various kinds. 


76 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


I believe we stand to-dav confronted a combination 
or trust whose metliods are deserving’ of serious considera¬ 
tion by this Congress. Tlie great industry is threatened 
with and receiving blows from which the recovery may be 
extremely slow, if at all. There is a feeling that something 
must be done, but just what and how is the question gener¬ 
ally for 3 mur consideration. This question must not be con¬ 
sidered altogether from a local or selfish standpoint. Tliere 
are different views taken in regard to what course should 
be pursued in order to have a more amicable adjustment of 
rates and more equitable determination of values. I be¬ 
lieve some plan should be devised by which all ores should 
be automatically sampled. I am sure that in the manner 
of cutting out one-fifth of the whole by the shovel, an op¬ 
portunity is furnished to discriminate against the shipi)er. 
Especially is it so under the present system where the em¬ 
ployed share in the profits. I have no objections to the la¬ 
borer getting the amount that he now receives under this ar¬ 


rangement, but I do object to the men who are i^aid to de¬ 
termine the values of our ore being interested in making it 
lower than it really is. This question of determining ore 
values is a very peculiar one. There is nothing like it in 
other channels of commerce. In the agricultural districts, 
I am informed, grain and cotton are graded under state reg¬ 
ulations, but here is an industry only second to the great 
agricultural interests, in which the values of the commodity 
are entirely determined by the buyer. But he says: i>ay 

for this ore and I am going to know from my own determin¬ 
ations what it is Avorth.’^ And Ave concede tliat he is right; 
but the producer can and does say: ^‘But I paid for this ore 
first. I paid for it in high Avages, freight and Auirious other 
expenses and I am entitled to some right in the manner of 
determining its values. I am entitled to have that ore sam¬ 
pled by a machine that can not be affected by any sort of 
inducement offered, hoAvever cunningly made, to cut out my 
sample unfairly.^^ In reply to this statement, I 'apprehend 
some Avill say that I take a Avrong AueAV of this matter; that 
this bonus to the employes Avas made in order to induce the 
men to continue longer in their employees service. If this 
is true, then I say, make the length of time that the}^ stay 
in the employer’s service and the amount paid them the 
condition, and not a per cent, of the profits. 

I have been told that it makes no difference Avith the 
men, so far as the values are concerned; but I disagree Avitli 
them, and as evidence that it does, I Avill quote from the 
closing sentence of the Sixth Annual Report of The Ameri- 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS. 


77 


can Smelting and Refining Company for the fiscal year end¬ 
ing April 30, 1905, which is as follows: 

“The increase in the net profits of the company has resulted in in¬ 
creasing, over the previous year, the sum to be distributed in accordance 
with the terms of Profit-Sharing Circular Letter of the Executive Com¬ 
mittee, and there has been paid to the employes of the company on this 
. account the sum of $216,815,76. In making this distribution to the em¬ 
ployes of Ihe Company, the Board has been pleased to state its belief 
that the encouragement given to the employes through the previous dis¬ 
tribution of earnings has had no-small influence in bringing about the very 
satisfactory condition of prosperity enjoyed by the company during the 
past year.” 

IV e are not covetous, but rejoice in the great prosperity 
of The American Smelting and Refining Company, as well 
as in their subsidiary companies, and we will admit that 
under the present consolidated system, operating expenses 
have been decreased. The profits from this and other va¬ 
rious sources have been large and we admit that the com¬ 
panies are entitled to the same, but give us a ‘^square Ileal, 
which is the value of our production, less your charges as 
based upon the schedules furnished us. 

Tlie summary of the various remedies for righting the 
wu’ongs complained of is as follows: 

First—State legislation. 

. Second—National legislation. 

Third—Encouraging competition. 

Fourth—By an amicable agreement. 

Fifth—Government operations. 

% 

As to the first, I believe the state has the right to reg¬ 
ulate all corporations doing business within its borders, by 
wise and proper legislation which the public good demands, 
and the only question that T am in any doubt about is 
whether or not the child has grown larger than the parent; 
so much larger than the pareut as to make the application 
of the law impossible. 

I think the states should jointly enact just and uni¬ 
form laws regulating the smelting business all over these 
United States.' 

If those remedies should fail, T would apply to the na¬ 
tion. Surel}^ if the government can lawfully say to the great 
railroad combinations: ^A"ou shall not charge excessive 
rates; you shall not own, operate or liold any interest in any 
coal mining company,’’ it could, under laws, regulate the 
sampling trust. 

One of the difficulties with the third proposition (com¬ 
petition) would be to combine a sufficient amount of capital 
to meet successfully the various methods used to crush out 






78 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


your competitor. We have an ilhistratioii of this in the 
operations of the Standard Oil. 

As to the fourth suggestion, I would say that I well 
know of the almost universal selhshness and greiMl of the 
individual in business and to Avhat extremes he Avill resort. 
The same is true of the ordinary corporation. Then Avhat 
can you expect from a trust formed from and of both of 
these? 

But, after having had several interviews Avith the man¬ 
ager of the American Smelting and~Kefining Company (in 
company Avith other gentlemen uoav present) I have been en¬ 
couraged to hope for an amicable adjustment of any grieA^- 
ances Ave might have. In fact Mr. Gniternian has said they 
Avould concede anything Ave Avoiild ask Avithin reason. I am 
satisfied this Avas made in good faith, and am acting under 
that verbal understanding uoav. But that is hardly broad 
enough. I Avant my associates to liaA^e the benefit of their 
fair proposition, and I Avant yon, felloAV members and dele¬ 
gates to this Congress, to be individually good Samaritans 
to all of our associates AAdio chance to be met upon the road 
from Jernsalem to Jericho. 

I believe that there are among the directors and officers 
of the American Smelting and Kefining Company honest, 
philanthropic, generous, broad-minded and iiatriotic citi¬ 
zens, and I am not for one moment contending that they as 
individuals are to be held responsible, as indiAddnals, for 
the acts of a corporation, under the direction of a board and 
general manager. I have knoAvn it to often occur that a 
board of directors composed of high-minded, honest citi¬ 
zens, to authorize and sanction the commission of acts bA" 
the incorporation so mean and contemptible as to bring the 
blush of shame to the cheeks .of the individual director 
when the same Avere called to his attention. He Avill say: 

did not do it; it Avas the board of directors.’’ Noav there 
are exceptions to this rule, and Avhen I say that I believe tlie 
American Smelting and Kefining Company is composed of 
members, the most of Avlioni, are high-minded, patriotic and 
just men Avho Avill listen to, consider and satisfactorily ad¬ 
just many of the shippers’ grievances. I believe there are 
among these powers that direct the comi>any referred to 
Avise, far-sighted individuals aa ho can look oA^er, aboA^e and 
beyond the throng of selfish stockholders, and Avithont an 
astrologer, or a David Avith a chain of gold about his neck, 
can read and interpret the ^diand writing npbn the wall.” 
I belieA^e a carefnlh^ considered, and fair statement made to 
the American Smelting and Kefining Company of just what 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS. 


79 


the shipper has to complaiu of, will receive careful and 
quick consideration at its hands, and get a much speedier 
relief than an}^ of the previous suggestions made. 

However, if all shall fail, then 1 believe the mining 
industry can exert a sufficient influence upon this govern¬ 
ment as to induce it to do the smelting for the whole 
people of the United States. I am opposed to municipal 
ownership. I am opposed to the state or the government 
operating the railroads, or aiw public enterprises. I am op¬ 
posed to the department stores on the ground that they 
have a tendency" to stifle and discourage private enterprise, 
and the investment of capital in small and large amounts. 
They all have a tendency to centralize the business that be¬ 
longs to thousands of good citizens in the hands of a feAV. 
But after that business that properly belongs to the public 
has been gathered into the hands of one or two gigantic 
trusts and all competition destroyed, I belieA^e that justice 
to the individual, the public and the industiy demand that 
the government shall rescue it from the one or Hvo, or more 
concerns, and operate the business for the interests of the 
people vfho are engaged in the Avork of taking Avhat nature 
has furnished in the crude form, and converting it into 
wealth that floAvs through the thousands of channels of com¬ 
merce into the millions of homes of the rich and the poor 
alike. I Avould adATAcate this measure as a last resort. We 
liave been, and are going to continue to be patient and long 
suffering, but neA^ertheless determined to demand and re¬ 
cede justice at the hands of the great and tlie small. 

I sincerely' believe that a good, healthy competition 
in all things is needed. I do not mean the destructive, ruin¬ 
ous kind such as has been in use and is being used by trusts 
and strong competitors to destroy and kill their Aveak oppo¬ 
nents, and Avhen they are dead and buried begin imme¬ 
diately to adjust their prices so as to make the public pay 
the funeral expenses. 

This matter is in your hands, felloAV members and dele- 
o’ates, and should it be discussed, T knoAV vou Avill do it in a 
spirit of kindness and fairness to all concerned. 

I thank Amu for the consideration vou have giveu me 
in my feeble efforts to present to you my vieAvs upon this 
subject. 


The Mutual Relations and Grievances of the Smelter 
Trust and the Ore Producer; A Response to the 
Address of Senator E. M. De La Vergne 


HY FRANKLIN GUITERMAN, GENERAL MANAGER THE AMERICAN 

SMELTING AND REFINING COMPANY. 

Mr. President, Members of the American Mining Con¬ 
gress, Ladies and Gentlemen: A few days ago I was ad¬ 
vised that my friend Senator De La Vergne would favor this 
Congress with an exposition of the grievances of the mining 
industry against the so-called smelter trust, the grievances 
being particularly and peculiarly related to the ore pro¬ 
ducers of the Cripple Creek district. I had hoped and ex¬ 
pected that I should be favored with a copy of the paper of 
my friend, the senator, before its delivery, so that I might 
. be fully prepared to answer such criticisms as he might 
have to offer covering the grievances of the ore producers of 
his special district. I therefore feel myself somewhat at a 
disadvantage, Mr. President, in being called upon to make 
a general reply and lead in debate in answer to the paper 
which you have just heard read. Senator De La Vergne, pre¬ 
sumably out of kindness and friendliness to me, said that lie 
recognized that this inexecrable impostor, the smelting- 
trust, with its directors at the head, often compelled its em¬ 
ployes to do things that they were ashamed of and which 
the}" Avoiild not voluntarily do if not under the influence 
and in the power of this grinding monopoly. I want to say 
here that whatever has been done in the state of Colorado 
and in Utah I am personalh^ responsible for, and that there 
is no executive officer of the American Smelting and Refin-, 
ing Company, no matter what his position is, that has ever 
compelled me in any way to any act the i3erformance of 
which I am ashamed. The senator has stated that in Colo¬ 
rado there is practically no competition. I wish to gainsay 
that statement of his and to declare than in every field in 
Colorado to-day, no matter whether it be Lake county or the 
San Juan country, whether it be Teller district or Mineral 
county, we have competition on all sides, and Ave have at all 
times been ready in every Avay to meet such competition in 
a spirit of fairness and equity to the producer. 

With your permission I Avill giA^e you a feAV facts jjer- 
taining to the development of the mining industr}^ in Colo¬ 
rado, so that you may judge for yourselves to Avhat extent 



SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: RESPONSE 


81 


this grinding monopoly has injured the mining industry, 
which is one of the bases of our prosperity. 

With particular reference to the Cripple Creek district, I 
desire to say to yon that since the formation of the so-called 
trust, when the American Smelting and Tvefining Company 
absorbed the last remaining great smelter in Colorado, 
namely, the Philadelphia, owned by Guggenheim’s sons, 
that since that time, instead of there being an advance in 
treatment charges there has been a steady reduction of the 
same, with the result that tliere has been more paid to the 
miner than was possible under tlie conditions where indi¬ 
vidual smelters were operating. Under the competitive con¬ 
ditions which have been obtained, and which have been 
brouglit about by tlie distress under which the mining in¬ 
dustry of Colorado was laboring, due to the depreciation of 
the iirice of metals, Ave haA^e been obliged to put tAvo enor¬ 
mous plants out of commission because they could not suc¬ 
cessfully meet the demands of the mining industry. I refer 
more particularly to that smelter Avhose stack you see rear¬ 
ing its head and AAdiich is the fourth highest stack in the 
United States, a plant which could not be duplicated to-day, 
if you wished to duplicate it, at an expense of one million 
dollars. I refer to another smelter at Pueblo, oAvned by the 
Guggenheims before they entered the combination, which 
could not be duplicated to-day at an expense of a million 
and a half dollars; and yet both of these smelters have been 
put out of commission because they could not meet the try¬ 
ing conditions which confronted us in our endeavors to 
lower the treatment charges so that orov production might 
continue. 

In Cripple Creek since 1902—and the Guggenheim 
smelters Avere taken in in 1901—our average margin on the 
purchase of those ores Avas f8.69 per ton, the gross value of 
the ore Avhich we received being f44.41 per ton. In 1905 
our aA^erage margin had been gradually reduced so that Ave 
Avere only receiving |7.72 per ton Avhile the Amlue of the ore 
Avhich we received from those mines had risen to the gener¬ 
ous sum of 150.47. In other words, the Cripple Creek pro¬ 
ducer, on ore being sent to us, Avas receiving from us |7.00 
per ton more three years later, after this combination had 
gone into effect.' That does not look as if Ave were trying to 
exterminate that industry. We found, however—and this 
was an undeniable fact—that in the purchase of Cripple 
Creek ores, grave abuses Avere being practiced, much to the 
detriment of ourselves, so that we could not continue the 
policy of making further reduction in treatment charges 




82 


PROCEEDINGS. AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


and thus stimulate an already generous production. We 
found on the part of the miner that he could utilize the sam¬ 
pler for the purpose of sampling his ores and utilize the 
smelter for the purpose of smelting his ores and utilize his 
OAvn appliances for the purpose of sampling his ores, and 
that he was insistent upon getting the very highest return^ 
out of those ores which could possibly be procured by any 
means. And we also found That in pursuance of those 
methods the smelters were suft'ering great damage in loss 
of metals for Avhich they had paid, but which did not reall}^ 
exist; hence this circular was issued Avhich the senator has 
mentioned in his paper read before you, namely, thai Ave 
Avould adopt such means to fairly ascertain the Amine of the 
ores, and having adopted them, Ave Avould get together and 
effect such a settlement as might be to the mutual interest 
of all parties concerned. There is nothing in that circular 
Avhich could possibly be taken exception to by any fair- 
minded individual. The miner to-day has the priAulege of 
sampling his ore as he had it before. He has the lAriAulege 
of having it sampled and purchased by independent 
sani]Aling ])eople as he had before. lie has the privilege of 
sending it to our smelting Avorks and liaAdng oirr oAvn 
sampling methods supervised by his OAvn representatives 
as he had it before; he has the privilege of making his oAvn 
assays on those' samples and comparing results AAuth ours 
and submitting the assays to the final arbitration of an 
umpire as he had it before. There is nothing I knoAA^ of that 
has been taken from him, but Avhat ^ye liaAm done has been 
in the interest of decency and self-])rotection for ourselves, 
to AAdiich Ave hold Ave are entitled. 

It is true that I said to Senator De La Vergne, and I say 
it to every shipper, and I Avant it to be understood, that the 
door of the office of the general manager of this company 
alAvaAm SAvings iinvard to anvone Avho has anv ore to sell, 
Avhether it be in large or small ])arcels, and that Ave Avill 
listen to any grievances that may be presented by him, and 
that those grievances Avill be adjusted in a proper manner 
and in the interest of all parties, but not in the interest of 
the seller of the ore alone. 

We havenT thought it proper, Mr. President, to enter 
the newspapers in defense of our policy. We have main¬ 
tained a silence Avhich Ave thought Avas proper and in con¬ 
sort Avith our oAAui dignity, and had it not been for the meet¬ 
ing of this Congress we should not liaA^e been heard at all 
in reply to the misstatements Avhich have been made con¬ 
cerning the conduct of our business. But Ave have held that 




SMEl/riNG TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: RESPONSE 


83 


tlie dignity of this body and tlie character of its representa¬ 
tives demanded that some statement should be made from 
us in explanation of our present position. 

It may be interesting to yon, inasmncli as the senator 
has. mentioned and compared us to railway's, to knoAV that 
our oAvn position is entirely dissimilar. Kaihvays are com¬ 
mon carriers for the i)nblic convenience. It matters not 
Avhether they haul a traiuload of coal or a trainload of d^m- 
amite; no one cares Avhether they haul a trainload of stone 
or a trainload of perishable goods. It makes no difference 
to tlie public whether the commodity ^Avhich is being trans¬ 
ported is one of silk or one of glass. The railways are there 
to serve the public and to serve it in a Avay Avhich will serve 
all interests. The smelting operations, however, are con¬ 
ducted on a different basis. We are not common receivers. 
W^e must exercise the doctrine of selection in the class of 
material Avhich we can utilize. If to-day we disregarded 
that imjiortant function Ave Avonld be flooded AAflth products 
which we could not Avork at ail. W^e Avould liaA^e offered to 
ns in superabundance ores Avhich Avould not otherAvise be 
marketable either from a commercial or technical vieAA^- 
poiut. We must necessarily, in the adjustment of our busi¬ 
ness delations Avith the shipper, exercise the doctrine of se¬ 
lection, as I stated before, and determine for ourseWes to 
Avhat extent AA^e can go in the aid and deA^elopnient of this 
important industry. 

And thus it happens that in the exercise of this doc¬ 
trine of selection and in our intense desire to aid in the de- 
A^elopment of these mineral resources, Ave are called upon 
very frequently to give to certain shippers favors to aid 
them in the development of their properties Avhich could not 
universally be applied. It is a Avell-knoAvn fact that men 
will not delve in the ground for the exploitation and pro¬ 
duction of ore unless they can meet their just reAvard. It 
is a Avell-knoAvn fact that the production of ores embraces 
not only the mining of very Ioav grade products, but also 
those of a more generous character, and it becomes incum¬ 
bent upon us to take large quiiiitities of Ioav grade products 
at times at an absolute sacrifice, in the expectation that AA^e 
will finally reap our OAvn reAvard in the receipt-of higher 
grade products Avhich Avill yield us a profitable margin for 
working. It is not satisfactory to state that because a 
certain mine has receiA’^ed a certain Avorklng 
chai'ge in order to meet the peculiar conditions 
surrounding the development of that property Ave must 
universally apply the same. We do endeavor, and Ave con- 



84 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


sistently follow out the program of endeavoring to please 
everyone, large shipper and small shipper, under like condi¬ 
tions and upon a like basis of terms, but we must reserve 
to ourselves the privilege of making exceptions in order to 
meet peculiar conditions as they arise and to aid in .suc¬ 
cessfully developing such properties. 

If it is not taking too much of the time of this Congress, 
it may be interesting to you to know that we receive drom 
Lake county nearly 53 per cent, of our total input. We have 
active competition in Lake county. We receive from Pitkin 
count}"—that is, the mining camp of Aspen—11^ per cent.; 
we receive from Teller county, where the Cripple Creek ores 
are produced, 12.7 per cent., and we receive from Mineral 
county, which embraces the mining camp of Creede, 5.S per 
cent. The production from all other, camps is small and is 
almost a negligible quantity, taken individually, in com¬ 
parison with these great percentages. 

We have to-day, in the receipt of these ores, seven prin¬ 
cipal classes of ore, which I will enumerate later. I will 
give you a history of the changed condition as far as smelt¬ 
ing rates are concerned, of these classes, so that you may 
know what the policy of the company has been and what 
the effect of that policy has been upon the production of 
ore: 

On Leadville dry sulphides, which are produced in 
great quantities, the values liave decreased from an average 
of f 14.05 per ton in 1901 to |10.03 in 1905—a reduction of $4 
per ton. Of this decrease the American Smelting and Ile- 
fining Company has absorbed f 1.00 per ton. That is to say, 
it has given that to the producer of the ore. And during 
this period, I desire to emphasize the fact that Ave haA"e ac¬ 
complished this in the face of the dismantling of the tAA "0 
plants to Avhich I have directed attention, and in the face of 
a constant rise in wages, as Avell as in the price of all the 
commodities Avhich Ave have been receiving. In consequence 
of this policy the production of Leadville has increased from 
94,000 tons of dry sulphides in 1902 to 104,000 tons at the 
present time. 

We Avill take the Leadville lead sulphides. We have 
reduced our margin in the last five years on those products 
fl.57 per ton, and in comparison Avith the rates Avhich ob¬ 
tained in 1894 the total reduction Avhich has been effected 
on that product has been from |5.00 to $6.00 per ton. 

On LeadAulle silicious ores, the silver-bearing alone, 
the gross value has decreased from $20.59 in 1891 to $13.08 




SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: DISCUSSION. 85 


in 1895, of which decrease the smelting conipan}^ has ab¬ 
sorbed |1.20 per ton. 

1 liave already told you what has happened in the Crip¬ 
ple Creek district, where not only the value had risen above 
what it was in 1902 to the extent of $7.00 per ton, but as a 
matter of fact, where we have reduced our own working 
.margin by over |1.00 per ton. 

In Asi)en, exclusive of lead concentrates and lead ores 
which have been produced, owing to the inability^ to market 
the crude Ioav grade ore, the Amine has shoAVu a decrease 
from $17.19 in 1901 to $8.21 at the present time. Our aver¬ 
age margin has been reduced from $1.70 per ton on this ma¬ 
terial, but iiotAvithstanding the fact that AA"e have aided in 
the production of this ore in eveiy^ way, the production did 
fall olf from 108,000 tons in 1901 to 50,000 tons at the pres¬ 
ent time. With the increase in the price of silver, hoAvever, 
Ave expect an increase in the present production, and I have 
read in the i)aper to-day that on account of the treatment 
charges Avhich Ave are giAung to the camp and the values 
Avhich the ores noAV contain, there has been a Amluntary in¬ 
crease to the miners of 25 cents per daA^ That does not look 
very much as'if Ave Avere trying to exterminate that partic¬ 
ular industrw. 

Let us take the great camp of Creecje, Avhich has pro¬ 
duced enormous quantities of silicious ore in times gone by. 
Creede is pureh^ a sihmr camx). The gross Amine in 1901 Avas 
$17.18, and it has declined up to the present time to $12.52, 
per ton. We have absorbed fully one-half of this de 
dine ourselves, and our margin has been reduced from $8.07 
to $5.05 at the present time. In 1891, tAvelve years ago, our 
margin, AAdien AAm Avere operating as independent smelters, 
Avas $15.00 a ton on these ores, Avhile at the present time Ave 
are taking the loAver grade ores at the ridiculous and absurd 
price of $4.00 per ton treatment in* order not to let those 
mines close. 

The iron oxide in Leadville production, Avhich is a flux¬ 
ing proposition, has decreased from 192,000 tons in 1901 to 
05,000 tons in 1905. The value per ton has decreased from 
$4.57 in the former year to .$2.80 in 1905. As Ave smelt the 
same quantity of ore AAdiich AAm smelted then and demand 
the same' quantity of flux, it has been necessary for us to 
substitute barren flux for a product AA^hich formerly gaA^e us 

a margin in smelting. ^ i 

If we take the smaller camps—Gilpin and Clear Creek 

and Boulder counties— Ave find that from 1902 to 1906 Ave 
have stimulated the production of Ioav grade silicious ores 


86 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


which was necessary in order to keep those camps in opera¬ 
tion, and so from a total production of those ores of 1,000 
tons in 1902, owing to tlie constant decrease in smelting 
charges, we have increased the tonnage to 10,000 tons com¬ 
ing out of those camps at the present time. That does not 
look as if we Avere tiwiug to exterminate that industry. And 
this is notAvithstanding the fact that the gross Amines of 
those ores have declined from f48.80 in 1902 to |22.78 at the 
present time. In Boulder county we.purchased 2,404 tons in 
1902. From Boulder the shipments have increased to over 
12,000 tons in 1905. The average gross value of the ore de¬ 
creased from $40.29 in the former year to $21.00 in 1905. 
In 1894 the treatment charge on tlie silicious ore from Clear 
Creek county was $13.00 per ton; noAV ^Ye are taking dry 
ores from Clear Creek, Gilpin and Boulder counties under 
$10.00 per ton in value at $4.00 per ton treatment in order to 
stimulate the production of richer ores. In 1894 the smelt¬ 
ers paid from 30 to 47 cents a unit for lead in Clear Creek 
and Gilpin counties, Avhile to-day the Clear Creek miners are 
receiving for their lead from 494 to 64^ cents jier unit Avith 
a reduction per ton for treatment from $9.70 to $5.(30. Here 
again it is the same story, namely, a better jirice for aAmrage 
lead ores is being jiaid as compared Avith the price of ten 
years ago. 

In going thus briefly over the situation as it appears to 
us, Ave can truthfully say tliat Ave have made an honest en¬ 
deavor in everv direction to identifA^ our interests Avith those 
of the producer. We recognize that Ave are inseparably con¬ 
nected with the rise or the fall of tlie great mining industry 
and that Ave can not hope to till our furnaces and thrive Avith 
the extinction of the mines. In every possible channel that 
confronts us Ave huAm made improvements, and Ave liaA^e not 
hesitated to give the mining community the benefit of those 
improvements in order to encourage it as a proper stimulus 
to their exploitation and exploration Avork. 

We hope that we have impressed everybody Avitli a be¬ 
lief in the integrity of our purpose, and Ave certainly shall 
be readv at all times to listen to anA^ grievances which maA^ 

ty C/ o t,' 

be presented to us in order that the same may be rectified 
to the mutual benefit of all parties in interest. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: The •question now, I think you will rec¬ 
ognize, has been fairly presented, and is open for general discussion, and 
we hope it will be conducted along the same high lines. The question is 
now in your hands. 

MR. JOSEPHS, OF UTAH; Mr. President and gentlemen of the 
American Mining Congress. I.believe in fair play. I believe in fair play, 
when it comes down to a question of business between the interests in- 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: DISCUSSION. 87 


volved in the question now before us. We in Utah can happily say, “God 
bless the American Smelting and Refining Company,” for this reason, 
that they were grinding us under their heels for years and showed to 
outside capital that the returns on the capital invested were so great 
that others could come into the field, and it finally resulted in bringing 
into our state competition which is of inestimable benefit to the ore pro¬ 
ducers of Utah. But our main evil and grievance that we have, not only 
against the American Smelting and Refining Company, ..but as well against 
all smelters operating either in Colorado, or Utah, is this, that we believe 
we are not getting a square deal on the quotations upon which they base 
their settlements. In order to simplify my point, I desire to quote from 
the newspapers: 

On October 12, 190G, local settling prices, as reported by the American 
Smelting and Refining Company, on copper, electrolytic, was 19% cents. 
The same day the Associated Press states that copper, electrolytic copper, 
was selling at 21% cents per pound. Now, what the ore producer in Utah 
particularly wants to know is, what becomes of the two cents. Why are 
we not getting it? If this is an actual quotation of the price of copper 
on the 12th day of October in New York, the ore producer in Utah desires 
to know from the American Smelting and Refining Company why he does 
not obtain that price. If a man sends a car load of wheat to Chicago 
to be sold upon the open market, it is sold .upon the quotations made upon 
the Chicago Board of Trade, and if a broker there returns to him a fic¬ 
titious quotation he‘has a right of action at law against the broker for 
giving him the wrong returns. I will state that this is the substance of a 
resolution which I have presented before this Congress, and I think it but 
meet at this time to discuss it. It belongs to the question of evils and 
grievances concerning which Senator DeLavergne gave us an exposition. 
We think we are entitled to the quotation of the metal upon the day 
of our settlement. As ah illustration, a carload of ore comes in from the 
mines and is sampled, either at the smelter or at the sampler, at the 
option of the producer or seller, the assays are made by two competent 
assayers, one of which may be the one furnished by the smelter, and the 
returns are then presented to the smelter. They are supposed to adjust 
their settlements on the quotation of the metal on the day of assay, and 
we invariably find, we ore producers of Utah, that we are not receiving 
the actual quotation which was made on that day in New York. In some 
of our contracts it is expressed that settlements shall .be based on quota¬ 
tions as per the Engineering and Mining Journal, the average price of the 
metal for the week. Now, in making a comparison of those quotations 
given in the Engineering and Mining Journal, on copper for instance, we 
find that the.v do not compare and never compare with those sent out 
by the Associated Press, and the Associated Press generally can be relied 
upon to give the actual state of affairs, as near as it can. 

And that, gentlemen, is the substance of my resolution, and it is one 
of the evils and the grievances that we have against all smelters, not 
singling out the American Smelting and Refining Company. 

Now, I want to call your attention to some grievances that we did 
have—and I understand that some of the ore producers in our state have 
still that grievance: On December 8, 1905, I shipped a car of ore, the 
metallic contents of which were .06 of an ounce in gold per ton, 80 ounces 
in silver per ton and 49 per cent. lead. In my settlement sheet made by 
the American Smelting and Refining Company, of the Utah department, 
there is no pay for gold. However, on the 20th of last month, September 
20, 1906, I sold a carload of ore to the American Smelting and Refining 
Company containing metallic contents as follows: .025 of an ounce in 
gold per ton, 122 ounces in silver, and 48 per cent, lead, and the insoluble 
matter and the iron practically the same as the last shipment. Now, I 
would like to know why the American Smelting and Refining Company 
a year ago did not pay me $1.15 for gold that was then in the ore. Pre¬ 
sumably that helped to pay the enormous dividends that the American 
Smelting and Refining Company has been paying and the bonuses paid 
yearly to its employes. (Applause.) 


88 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Certainly, if I make any misstatements here, the general manager, 
whom I have never had the pleasure to meet, is here and can correct 
them. 

I will say this much, that smelting rates to-day, as they exist in 
Utah, are lower than at any time in the history of the state. Whether it 
is due to that competition or whether it is due to the desire of the Ameri¬ 
can Smelting and Refining Company to pose as philanthropists in our 
community, I do not know. I will leave the members here to judge for 
themselves. 

Now, gentlemen, I believe, as I said at the outset of my remarks, in 
fair play. The Colonel has spoken about the moisture. Now, I believe 
everybody is wrong on that. The American Smelting and Refining Com¬ 
pany has nothing at all to do with the moisture in the ore. ’All ores 
contain some water, as those of you know who have had experience. Now, 
neither the American Smelting and Refining Company nor any other 
smelter has any control over the moisture in ore. The moisture is as¬ 
certained by quantitative analysis by the assayer. I have heard in some 
quarters that the boys sometimes turn the hose on a carload of ore when 
it gets into the smelter, but I don’t know of any particular cases, and 
I do not believe that would make much difference. 

In regard to sampling, the American Smelting and Refining Company 
did initiate in our state the practice of sampling all ores free, and gave 
to the ore producer the choice of having them sampled either at a public 
sampler or at their own. 

I desire to read from a periodical which is published, I believe, here 
in Denver, in which the argument is made that the ore producer is en¬ 
titled to publicity of the affairs of the American Smelting and Refining 
Company. I take issue. The American Smelting and Refining Company 
is merely a quasi-public corporation. It is at the same time a private 
corporation. It runs its business the same as any other corporation, and 
I do not believe that the ore producer is entitled to know anything abcut . 
the inside affairs of the company unless he is fortunate enough to hold 
some stock. But this article states this: 

“Ore producers have a right to demand more publicity in the affairs 
of the smelting company. The public has a right to complete statistics, 
including what is nominally charged for treatment, the value of the metals 
recovered, and how much of this amount is delivered to the ore producers. 

In other words, it fehould be known just what tribute the smelters are 
collecting from the mines. Corporate publicity that would be effective 
along these lines deserves the support of mining men. * * *” 

Certainly, the statements of Senator DeLavergne regarding the con¬ 
dition in Cripple Creek is something new to us. It is a local condition 
that exists in Colorado. We are not burdened with the same thing in 
Utah. But our main,grievance, as I started to say in opening my remarks, 
is on the quotations, and I would like to hear from Mr. Guiterman his 
explanation of that difference, because I believe he owes it to our state, 
which has brought the mining industry into such prominence. We think 
we have a state that is forging rapidly to the front; more rapidly, probably, 
than any other state in this Rocky mountain region. And I want to say, 
in justice to the American Smelting and Refining Company, that that 
company is helping to do that work. They have lately erected, some 
miles from Salt Lake City, an enormous plant costing an enormous amount 
of money, to treat ores which could not otherwise have been taken care 
of. As Mr. Dern, in his paper on “The Mines and Mineral Resources of 
Utah,” has stated, we have one property alone in Bingham—or rather two 
properties—that are capable of producing and will produce 20,000 tons 
a day. Now, that total will have to be taken care of, and the American 
Smelting and Refining Company came into the breach and erected this 
magnificent plant fifteen miles from Salt Lake City. (Applause.) 

Now, if I can have the indulgence of the Congress, I would like to 
ask Mr. Guiterman to make an explanation of those differences in quo¬ 
tations. It is a good opportunity for him, and I do not believe he will 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: DISCUSSION. 89 

• 

hesitate to avail himself of the opportunity. The Utah delegation is here, 
we have brought the question up before our mine operators association, 
and certainly we do not believe and Utah does not believe in vicious 
legislation. We do not think any vicious legislation should be practiced 
against any corporation or any individual who are putting their money 
into a community, but we do believe in fair play and a square deal, and 
we think we are entitled to it. 

I thank you, gentlemen. (Applause.) 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further remarks upon this 
question ? 

MR. GUITERMAN: I have not the pleasure of knowing the gentle¬ 
man, but I have taken great pleasure in learning that he still continues 
to ship his ore to the-smelting trust, and that he has also enjoyed the 
benefit of reduced treatment charges. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: We have a contract, Mr. Guiterman, 
and are compelled to. (Laughter and aplause). 

MR. GUITERMAN: Under that contract, however, you are still re¬ 
ceiving more for your ore than you did a year ago. ^ 

But in reference to the matter of quotations, this is an extremely 
simple one. Owing to the solicitation of the chief producers of ore, 
not only in Colorado but also in Utah and Montana, it was agreed by 
common consent that the official quotations should be those which were 
published in the Engineering and Mining Journal, a journal which is 
recognized as the leading exponent of the mining industry of the United 
States. In addition to this, there are quotations sent out by the associ¬ 
ated press from the so-called Metal Exchange in New York, which is, 
again by the consensus of opinion, recognized as entirely unreliable; 
hence we have‘adopted that quotation which appears in the Journal, 
which will vouch for the correctness of the same. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: What security have the ore producers 
as to the correctness of the quotations of the Engineering and Mining 
Journal? 

MR, GUITERMAN: The reputation of the editor- of that Journal 
and you are privileged to write them and find out on what they base 
their quotations. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: Is the American Smelting and Refining 
Company or any of its officers or directors interested directly or in¬ 
directly in the Engineering and Mining Journal? 

MR. GUITERMAN; Not to my knowledge. I know nothing about 
it. 

MR. DeLAVERGNE OP COLORADO: I am not going to make any 
talk, but I am just going to make public here an apology to Mr. Guiter¬ 
man from having failed to furnish him aa copy of the remarks that I made 
this morning. I. had partially promised to do so, but since coming to the 
city I have been extremely busy on a matter which involved the per¬ 
sonal liberty of a person who is confined in a state institution, and have 
been working upon that and did not complete my paper until last night. 
So I wish to apologize. 

MR, GUITERMAN OP COLORADO: It is entirely unnecessary. Sen- . 
ator. 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: The Engineering and Mining Jour¬ 
nal has been brought' into the discussion. As editor of that Journal and 
the one who is responsible for its quotations, I am in a position to speak 
somewhat authoritatively in regard to the matter. The Engineering and 
Mining Journal has for twenty-five years or more quoted the prices of 
the metals in the wholesale market. The large transactions in metals 
are not done on the Exchange, but are done directly between the pro¬ 
ducer and the consumer. It has been consistently the effort of the Jour- 


90 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

• 

nal through all. these year^, and its policy I shall continue, to make 
quotations on that basis. The matter has been explained time and again 
in its columns, so that everyone should be cognizant of its policy. Our 
quotations are based on these wholesale transactions. Our test of ac¬ 
curacy is a comparison between our average and the average which is 
actually realized by various producing companies as reported in its 
official statement. What I say now has special reference to copper. 
But the same thing pertains to lead, silver and other forms of commer¬ 
cial metals. The wholesale transactions in all these metals are made up 
by contract directly between the producer and consumer, not on the Ex¬ 
change, and we claim to represent accurately the a'verage of those con¬ 
tracts. (Applause). 

MR. JOHN BERN OP UTAH: Mr. President, I wish to make but a 
few remarks. I believe in a matter of this kind we should have a pretty 
general expression. The smelting business is sO' identified with the min¬ 
ing interests that one cannot exist without the other. They must abso¬ 
lutely work in harmony to attain the best end and the best results for 
the producers of ore. \ 

Since I have been engaged in mining, in these last many years, I 
have done practically but very little shipping, but operate such mines 
where we have reduced our ores into bullion and shii^ped it direct to the 
Mint. It has only been within the last ten years that I have been con¬ 
nected with mines that have shipped to smelters. I have shipped largely 
to the American Smelting and Refining Company, and am shipping to 
them now to some extent, but am shipping, too, to their competitors. 
With the improved methods in smelting and in metallurgical ways they 
have been able to give us a much better rate and enable us to handle 
such ores as we were not able to mine or'ship to the smelters years 
ago. I have confidence in the general principle that competition is the 
life of trade, and to those men in Cripple Creek, if they are not satisfied, 
they have recourse in combining their capital and putting in a smelter 
of their own if by so doing they can save a great deal of money. We 
have the good fortune out in our state of not depending upon one concern. 
We have some of our larger mines operating their own individual smelters, 
I expect for the reason that thej^ thought there was money in it for them; 
others have come into the field in competition with the American Smelt¬ 
ing and Refining Comiiany, and today under the same methods we can 
get, on our lead ores, for instance, two or three or four or five dollars a 
ton more than we could a few years ago. So I say it has reduced itself 
to the broad proposition of competition being the life of trade. It is 
natural for all of us to make as large a profit as we possibly can. Your 
dry goods merchant here in Denver, if he has no competition, or even 
if he has lots of it, will take fifty per cent profit on what he sells if he 
can get it. So it is with the smelting company. If by competition they 
are compelled to take less than that, they are willing to take a less profit. 
Of course it is natural for all of us to criticize the large profits to 
some extent which have been made by the American Smelting and Re¬ 
fining Company. We all take it for granted that they have absorbed all 
the different concerns in the country and issued their preferred stock, 
that was the investment proper, although the common stock was watered, 
and 4hey have been able to pay a handsome dividend on the common 
stock. But we realize, too, that their earnings have not all been dis¬ 
tributed in dividends but have gone into improvements. They have 
invested large amounts of money and added to the wealth of the company 
and to the assessable valuation of their property in the districts in which 
they operate, which is a great source of revenue for those particular dis¬ 
tricts. "-The men they employ, the tremendous pay roll which they main¬ 
tain, adds very materially to the welfare of the laboring classes, and 
the community in which those laborers are employed. So' my stand upon 
this question is that we should encourage competition. By so doing, we 
can remedy any evil which may exist. (Applause). 


SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS: DISCUSSION. 91 


MR. PATRICK OF OHIO: Mr. President, Clear Creek County’s 
complaint or grievance is this: We believe that the original charge for 
smelting pays for the smelting, which is $6.00. We grieve because we 
do not get paid for our one and a half or two per cent, of copper, for our 
ten per cent of zinc, for our five per cent of lead, and that we only re¬ 
ceive nineteen dollars an ounce for our gold and ninety-five per cent of 
the value of the silver for our silver. (Applause). 

MR. DANIELS OF COLORADO: Mr. President, I want to ask Mr. 
Guiterman a question or two, and something in the line of the matter 
of competition. He has informed us that we have competition in Colo¬ 
rado at least, and I would like to ask where the shipper from Clear 
Creek, Boulder county can sell his ore in competition with the trust or 
the combination as Mr. Guiterman has preferred to call it. I have been 
shipping a little ore from those two counties for a number of years, and 
so far as I know, during the past five years we have only had one place 
to sell. It is true that there is an alleged sampling works, and I would 
like to ask some questions about that if they might not be considered of¬ 
fensive. I am informed, reliably I believe, that if we decline to sell our 
ore to the sampler and ship it direct to the smelter, the smelter pays 
the sampling works a regular charge on every ton of ore and concentrates 
that we ship in that way. I would like to know whether I am correctly 
informed in regard to that or not. 

I would also like to ask whether or not the treatment charges on 
ore shipped from Clear Cree4v county that were in force while the Car¬ 
penter smelter was in operation, during its last period, were remunerative 
or not to the smelters here in Denver. 

I would also like to ask whether any ore or any very great amount 
of ore was shipped from the Denver smelters to Pueblo for smelting dur¬ 
ing the time of what is known as the Omaha and Grant strike at the time 
that smelter was closed down. 

The reason for that question is that as soon as that strike occurred 
a dollar a ton was added to the treatment charge to pay the freight from 
Denver to Pueblo, and that charge, to my knowledge has never been 
taken off. 

Now, it is a fact that almost immediately after the closing of the 
Carpenter smelter the rates of the Denver smelters were materially in¬ 
creased, so that we must arrive at one of two conclusions—either we are 
being robbed by those increased rates—well, I will change ^ that lan¬ 
guage; I don’t want to be offensive at all; I will withdraw that, and I 
will say that we are forced to the conclusion that we are either paying 
too much on those increased rates or that we were not paying enough 
while the other smelter .was in operation, and that the decrease was sim¬ 
ply to put competition out of business so that they might charge the 
shipper more than fair rates. There has been, of course, since the closing 
of that smelter, at least two or three changes in the amount of treatment 
charges. One reduction was made; that is, it was widely heralded as a 
reduction of, as I remember it, something about a dollar a ton, but pre¬ 
vious to that reduction we had been receiving 97i/4% for our gold if it ran 
half an ounce or more to the ton. We were receiving pay for all of the sil¬ 
ver over one ounce. At the time that reduction was made a change was 
made in the basis of payment for those metals, and we are only paid 
95% for gold between half an ounce and two ounces, and we are only 
paid for silver when there is two ounces in the ore; and I submit—and 
I believe I am absolutely correct—that the changes in the method of pay¬ 
ing for those two metals more than made up the apparent reduction in 
the treatment charge. 

Now, we have been, giving average reduction in charges on ore. 
It is true that there are now apparently very low rates on certain low 
grade classes of ore, but are we not—that is, are not the shippers pay¬ 
ing enough more on the higher grades to at least equalize the reduction 
on those lower grades? 

In relation to the matter of this payment to the only sampling works 


92 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


we have that we can reach from Clear Creek and Boulder counties, I want 
to say that my information that these sums I speak of are paid to the 
sampling works, whether we ship to them or not, was given to me by Mr. 
Crawford Hill. We are told, too, that this great Grant smelter out here 
is out of commission, and a reason was given for it. Now, I dislike to even 
insinuate the possibility that the full reason was not given, but I would 
like to ask if the fact that the machinery and processes in that smelter 
were pretty badly out of date was not one of the large considerations 
for its being dismantled. 

I believe that covers the questions that I desired to ask, but I sim¬ 
ply wish to say one word in reference to the matter of moisture re¬ 
ferred to by Senator Josephs, and this does not apply to any smelters, 
but I have seen samples of ore running very high in sulphur placed oi 
a red hot cast iron plate to dry out the moisture, and, very singular to 
relate, when that moisture test was completed, there was not very much 
sulphur in that sample, and the result was that the wet sulphur in our 
ore was deducted as water. If I have not made it plain, I want to say 
that that did not apply to any smelter. It was an ore buyer. I want to say 
this much further, that during the entire time I have been shipping to 
the Denver smelters these small runs from the little insignificant camps, 
I have never had the slightest trouble in making settlements. I have never 
had but one shipment resampled. I believe during the entire time 
we have never umpired more than twice, and that we have had no difh- 
culty in agreeing upon a settlement right off on the preliminary or first 
assays. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: Are there any further remarks? 

MR. JOHN DERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, my remarks perhaps 
do not apply direct to the smelter, but that we are more fortunate out 
in Utah than you are here in Colorado. I think we are ahead of you 
from the conversations and the remarks that have been made here. 
(Applause.) We out there do not sample our ore with shovels—every 
twenty-fifth shovel, or every twenty-fifth part, or anything of that sort. 
Our samplers, Messrs Taylor and Brunton and others, are right up 
to date, and in our contracts the sampling of any of these concerns is 
absolutely taken as a basis of settlement. We have the privilege of send¬ 
ing it direct to the smelters if we see fit and to send a representative 
there to watch the sampling, and some of our concerns, especially, who 
have low grade ore, on which they naturally want to save every dollar 
they possibly can, and which runs sO' uniform that you can take a grab 
sample here and there it will almost give you the average, will avail 
themselves of that opportunity and thereby save that money. High 
grade ores, as I said before, are almost always taken as final. 

We have no difficulty in Utah and have no controversy on that point 
with any of our smelting companies. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: I would like to ask a question of Mr. 
Ingalls. As editor of the Engineering and Mining Journal, I would like 
to ask you whether it is true or not that the United Metals Selling Com¬ 
pany furnishes your paper with a daily quotation on copper metal. 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: No, it is not true. It is absolutely 
untrue. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Can you tell us, then, where these 
quotations are obtained? 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: Our quotations are obtained from 
inquiry in the market among the larger selling agencies which dispose 
of metal, 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Is the United Metals Selling Company 
one of those large agencies? 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW-YORK: It is not. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: A selling agency? 




SMELTING TRUST AND ORE PRODUCERS; DISCUSSION. 93 

/ 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: A selling agency. But the United 
Metals Selling Company will not talk at all with anyone on market 
conditions, and that is the reason that we do not consult them. We have 
repeatedly invited them to furnish us with a record of their transac¬ 
tions, but they decline to do so. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: But I failed to grasp from your re¬ 
marks of a few moments ago as to how you accounted for the difference 
in quotations on copper that I spoke of. 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: I do not account for them; I 
merely explained my own. 

MR. JOSEPHS OF UTAH: Do you discredit the Associated Press 
in that regard? / 

MR. INGALLS OF NEW YORK: Since you put it in that way, I 
will say yes. 

MR. JOSEPHS OP UTAH: That is all I want to know. 

PRESIDENT RICHARDS: I Simply want to express, on behalf of 
this Congress, as its chief executive, the appreciation of this Congress 
of the manly way in which this debate has been carried on. It has been 
demonstrated that this body, under this system, can be of great use, 
and I want to express to Mr. Guiterman the appreciation of this body 
especially for the manly way in which he has come here and presented 
the side of the smelter interests upon this question. 

We will now take a recess until 2 o’clock p. m. 


Mining in the Joplin District 


BY CH. GUENGERICH. 

The Joplin iiiiuiiig district is located on tlie western 
slope of the Ozark mountains and extends from the Miami 
Indian Territoiy mines in the southwest, throngli the south¬ 
east corner of Kansas to Stotts City and Aurora, Missouri, 
in the northeast, about sixty miles, with a widtli from 
Granby, Missouri, on the south, to Neck City, Missouri, on 
the north, a distance of about twenty-four miles. 

This region now furnishes 50 per cent, of the zinc ore 
smelted in the United States and is of a quality unexcelled 
for purit}^ an^^where in the world. The remaining 50 per 
cent, of zinc ore is obtained from localities scattered over 
half a dozen states, British Columbia and IMexico. 

Metallic zinc, Avest of the Alleghanies Avas first smelted 
' in La Salle, Illinois, in 1858, by the Matthiessen & Hegeler 
Zinc CompanA\ Soon after that time some spelter Avas made 
in ]Mineral Point, Wisconsin, but tliese aa orks Avere after- 
Avards couA^erted into oxide AAmrks. In 1808 the first spelter 
AA^est of the Missouri rlA^er AAms turned out at Potosi, i\Iis- 
souri. In 1867 an unsuccessful attempt AAms made to manu¬ 
facture zinc spelter AAuth charcoal in Sharp county, Arkan¬ 
sas. The Illinois-Wisconsin works depended for their ore, 
Avhich AAGas mostly carbonate, on the Galena, Illinois, dis¬ 
trict, but after the old dump piles AAdiich AA^ere made dm ing 
the lead mining iieriod AA^ere all cleaned up, the outpiii: be¬ 
came stationary, if not declining, putting a stop to further 
groAAdh of the business. 

Zinc blende aa'Us first successfully treated in 1808. 
About that time the first sheet zinc Avas rolled in this-coun¬ 
try. In 1873, shortly after the discoA^ery of some rich lead 
de]msits near AAdia't is iioaA' the center of the city of Joplin, 
Missouri, by Moffett Sergeant, a feAA^ carloads of zinc blende 
of exceptionally fine quality found their AAmy to the La Salle- 
Peru Avorks, and from that year dated the wonderful groAAffh 
of these the richest knoAvn zinc mines. The Webb City and 
Galena, Kansas, mines were opened in 1870 and 1877; Au¬ 
rora in the year 1880; Baxter, Kansas, and Indian Territory^ 
mines in 1904. Oronogo and Granby are older lead mines* 
and were Avorked already in the h50s. 



95 


MINING IN THE JOPLIN DISTRICT 

Other counties iu South Missouri show ziuc in many 
places, also northern Arkansas, but none of these mines 
Imve so tar grown to any importance. 

From 1,000 tons or so in 1873, the zinc ore output ot the 
Joplin district—^that is, Jasper, Newton and Lawrence 
counties in Missouri; part of Cherokee county, Kansas, and 
the northeast corner of Indian Territory, has grown to 
27,500 tons in 1880, to 115,000 tons in 1800, to 250,000 tons 
in 1900, and will reach, at the j)resent rate of output, 290,000 
in 1906. 

For the first few years lead ore was the predominafing 
mineral, but iu 1881 zinc was alread}^ the most important 
and valuable ore. This was caused partly by the very Ioav 
price of lead which prevailed after the opening of the Lead- 
ville mines. 

With the growth in production an almost continuous 
rise in price has taken place from $9.00 per ton in 1873 to 
from $10.00 to $50.00 at the present time. The value of this 
years output promises to be fully $12,000,000.00,’ Avhich, 
together with $3,000,000.00 for lead ore, Avill make a total of 
$15,000,000.00. 

Up to 1877 all the zinc ore mined Avas smelted in Illi¬ 
nois, Avith the exception of a small quantity used by a Weir 
City, Kansas, smelter. The zinc silicate, found in large 
quantities in Granby in the early UOs, Avas used in St. Louis 
smelters. Iu 1877 the first smelter Avas built in Pittsburg, 
Kansas, and the cheap coal ($1.00 to $5.00 per car for slack) 
caused a number of smelters to be built in the Kansas- 
jMissouri coal fields. At times the output of ore grew faster 
than the smelter capacity and quantities of ore Avere ex¬ 
ported to Europe. Colorado blende Avas first treated in Kan¬ 
sas in 1899. After the experiments Avith natural gas, 
started in 1896 in Tola, Kansas, proved successful, it took 
but a feAV years before all the coal smelters iu the Kansas- 
Missouri coal fields Avere shut doAvn or removed to the gas 
fields and neAv ones erected to take advantage of the cheap 
and convenient fut^l. To-day 56 to 60 per cent, of the spelter 
production of the states falls to the Kansas gas smelters. 

In the first fifteen years or so, only the shallowest, the 
richest and.the most easily mined ore deposits Avere ex¬ 
ploited, and in the course of time several supposed bed 
rocks Avere encountered, Avhicli later on Avere sunk through 
and richer ore bodies discovered beloAv. 

The first crusher Avas set qp in 1879; the first dressing 
and separating plant in 1880, and from that on hand jigs. 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


96 

Armstrong crushers, together with horse pumps and holst¬ 
ers, whims and whips soon became things of the past. 

The first separating plants Avere built after approved 
European jilans Avith careful sizing, shaking tables, but out 
of this the typical Joplin 100-ton mill or multiple thereof 
has been evolved in course of time, Avith hopper feed, 
crusher and rolls; one or more sets of chat rolls, imperfect 
sizing through roughing jigs, cleaning on the cleaning jigs, 
generally of five cells, and in most of the neAver mills, shak¬ 
ing tables. While under certain conditions these mills do 
not Avork entirely satisfactorily, often necessitating reciean- 
ing of the tailings, on the AAdiole they seem best adapted to 
the Avork required of them and the conditions of the mines. 

Almost invariabl}^ the mines are Avorked by lessees at 
a royalty Amrying from 10 per cent, to 25 per cent, on lots 
generally from fiA^e to ten acres. Prospecting is done by 
churn drills at a cost of from 85 to 00 cents per foot. Shaft 
sinking costs on an average |10 per foot. In the opening of 
neAV ground the expense of draining may, lioAveAmr, make 
the cost of sinking A^ery much greater^—even up to flOO.OO 
per foot and over. A mill calculated to handle 100 tons of 
mine dirt per shift aaTII cost flO.OOO.OO. The dirt should con¬ 
tain 5 per cent, blende in order to make a mine pay under 
present aA-erage conditions;^though under especially favor¬ 
able circumstances as Ioav as 3 per cent, has yielded hand¬ 
some profits. 

Miners AAmrk in eight-hour shifts with wages §2.50 to 
§2.75 per shift. Much of the cutting and hoisting is done 
'by contract. 

Zinc is sold mostly on assay, GO per cent, diy aa eight 
being the basis, §1.00 plus or minus for each per cent. aboA^e 
or beloAA^ 60 per cent.; for iron §1.00 for each per cent, above 
1 per cent, is deducted. The iron contents seldom go OA^er 
3 per cent., and much of the ore contains less than 1 per 
cent. The few ores having more iron are treated on CleA^e- 
land magnetic separators. Lead seldom reaches 1 per cent, 
in the blende marketed. 

The deepest mining in tlie district is now done tii a 
depth of 200 feet, except in Aurora, Avhere a depth ol 300 
feet has been reached. Aurora has an elevation of 1,250 
feet against from 800 feet to 1,200 feet for Jasper county. 
Tlie irregular, pockety occurrence of the ore bodies in the 
upper runs has given place in many localities to a pretty 
uniform sheet formation or blanket vein underlying large 
tracts of land at a depth below 175 feet. In some of the 
holes drilled to greater depths zinc ore has been found aoAAm 
to 1,000 to 1,200 feet. 



MINING IN THE JOPLIN DISTRICT 


* 97 


The lead ore is also of great purity. The soft Missouri 
ore is mostly treated in local smelters in modified Scotch 
hearths, the fumes collected in trails and stacks or in bags 
and converted into sublimed lead yielding a pigment of su¬ 
perior quality. Zinc white is produced in Joplin and Oolfej- 
ville, Kansas, from New Mexico ores. 

Another by-product of the mines is lately attracting 
considerable interest; the tailing, consisting of chert with 
an admixture (in varying proportions) of limestone. Here¬ 
tofore this material has been used extensively for railroad 
ballast and in the construction of a system of public roads 
unequalled by any other section of the West. Later, how¬ 
ever, its superior adaptability for concrete work and cement 
brick has been ascertained and plants for such uses are un¬ 
der consideration. 

The lot of the Joplin miner is cast in pleasant places. 
An unsurpassed climate, an abundance of pure water in 
copious springs and numerous streams, fruitful soil; joined 
on the west by the grain fields of Kansas and the cattle 
ranches on the south and the Indian Territory; and being 
itself a part of the land of the ^J^ig red apple;’’ having in 
the northern part of Jasper county one of the best winter 
wheat producing regions of Missouri, and in the Avesrern 
part, in the toAvn of Sarcoxie, the greatest strawberry grovA- 
ing and shipping point in the Union, the Joplin miner has 
the advantage of living in a county the total surplus prod¬ 
ucts of which aggregated |22,778,000.00, more than any 
other county in the Union. HaA^ing for poAver the clioice be- 
tAveen electricity, created by the neA^er-failing streams, 
cheap coal, almost within its gates, and of natural gas 
brought to its houses, its mines and its mills from the larg¬ 
est gas fields yet discoA^ered in the states; having a laAA^- 
abiding, intelligent citizenship, where strikes and lock-outs 
liaA^e neA^er yet disturbed the pleasant relations betAveen em¬ 
ployer and employe, Avhere the latter have ahvays had as an 
incentive to the faithful performance of his task the exam¬ 
ple of others who haAm themselves risen from common s^iade 
hands through their oAvn exertions to be mine operators and 
owners; the Joplin miner is placed in the enviable position 
of living in a district replete witli abundant Avealth from the 
ranch, the farm and the mines. 


The Enforcement of Mining Laws 


BY CHARLES L. DIGNOWITY. 

Honorable Chairiiiaii and Fellow-Members of this Most 
GTacioiis Convention: As we stand to-day upon the thresh¬ 
old of a new century, we feel tlie strain and tension of ^dhe 
strenuous life,’’ and in this race for wealth, poAver, fame and 
position we sometimes wish that Ave could return again to 
the days of simpler living and possibly of higher thinking. 
We Avish that Ave could check for a Avhile this ^^pace that 
kills” and “walk quietly with the gods of old in the Gardens 
of Spice.” 

Upon the other hand, lioAA^eA^er, AA^e are consciously 
proud of the strides our country is taking, of the fame she is 
reaching, compared with the other nations of the world. We 
boast and brag of our “American spirit,” of our-army, our 
naA^y, our Avealth and our citizens. We kuoAA^, and others 
can see, that as a nation we are the most energetic, the most 
ambitious, and the most ingenious in the Avorld, AAdiile rap¬ 
idly becoming the Avealthiest. All this is the price of “our 
strenuous life.” 

Admitting, then, that- Ave possess the merits of these 
great gifts, should Ave not use them to retain and enhance 
our reputation as a nation, and hold the power and place we 
are so eminentlv fitted for? 

Mining and agriculture are the foundations of the 
Avorld’s progress; the legitimate Avork nature has supplied 
to man. 

The real basic industry of the Avorld’s AA^ealth is mining. 

Mining has given the greatest power of one nation oA^er 
another for centuries. Doavii through the Dark Ages AA"e 
trace its influence. Koine and Spain flourished in all their 
ancient splendor with fabulous mines to druAV from, and fell 
Avlieu those mines ceased to produce. So Ave can trace the 
influence of the Avorld’s treasure Amults from Solomon to 
ScliAvab, Avhich brings us to the present day, and a return of 
those prodigal displays of wealth Avhich made the past rich 
in coloring and famed in song and story. Mines lavished on 
the Old World riches, and created fortunes, titles and digni¬ 
ties ages have not been able to obliterate, though their glit¬ 
tering magnificence and power have been dimmed. 

To-day it is our turn Avith our virile and progressive na¬ 
tion. With our mineral Avealth and diA^erse resources we 







THE ENFORCEMENT OF MINING LAWS 


99 


may easily surpass all other countries, if we only preserve 
the iutegrity and honesty that is necessary for the founda¬ 
tion. Are we doing so? Or, are we selling our birthright 
for a mess of pottage? 

It is a fact that to-day, in spite of all our vast mineral 
Avealth, there are more Avildcat or so-called sage-brush in¬ 
corporations floated, and fed by the unsophisticated public, 
than there are legitimate mining companies. The major 
portion of the bogus claims on the market—if they exist at 
all-—cover land where nothing is visible but sand and sage 
brush; remote from Avood and Avater, ledge and boulder, 
upon Avhich no title or patent from the gOA^ernment could be 
obtained as a mineral lode claim. 

To begin Avith, very few abide by the law that const!’ 
tutes a Amlid mining claim. I quote from ^Tdndley on 
Mines’’: 

“I’o make a location it is first necessary to discover ore, 
bearing gold, sih^er or other metals, and this gives the 
source of the title to the miner, and no valid location can be 
made without such discovery, and this discovery must pre¬ 
cede location, or be made in advance of any inteiwening 
right, and priority of discoA^ery gives priority of right over a 
location made AAuthout a discoA’^ery. DiscoA^ery of detached 
pieces of quartz, mere bunches or float, is not sufficient. Tlie 
size or richness of the vein is immaterial, but the discoverv 
must be of rock in place.” 

Enforce tliis law. Enforce tlie hiAA^ against the fraudu¬ 
lent use of the mails. Make it a criminal offense for false 
misrepresentation in selling stocks or claims, and create 
state mining inspectors to investigate every mine. Tax the 
mine, if necessary, to pay for such officials, or require a fee 
for information supplied, to defray the expense of the re¬ 
port. I AAmuld also suggest government bureaus of infor¬ 
mation, Avhose duties Avould be to investigate the standing 
of eA^ery mining company, and make eA^ery company unable 
to show good reasons for existence, illegal, and subject to 
criminal prosecution. 

The laws exist. The trouble is tliev are not enforced. 

* 

The best hopes we may have at this coiiA^ention Avill never 
be consummated if Ave legislate and keep on legislating 
from now until the crack of doom, until legislation provides 
for the enforcement of its laws. One of the safeguards 
against wrong-doing is publicity. In England the share- 
holder gets more protection than his fellow-speculator on 
this side, and AA^e would do well to take a few pointers from 
the Companies Act, which compels publicity in that coun- 
trv. 



100 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MIN'ING CONGRESS. 


This government lias been apjiealed to time after time 
in the interests of investors to do sonietliing towards the 
security of their investments. The promises made in re¬ 
sponse have been profuse. But tlie ])erforniances have in¬ 
variably ended in miserable failures, and so it happens that 
fakirs of the worst type fatten upon the mining industry 
like grasshoppers upon the vine; and with somewhat sim¬ 
ilar results. 

The laws devised for the conservation and protection of 
fisheries and forests, are rigidlv enforced, and Avhy not for 
mines? The mineral Avealth of this country is the greatest 
national asset, and why should it not be zealously guarded? 

The present state of affairs is not creditable to those Avho 
charge themselves AAdth Avatching OA^er the Avelfare of the 
country and its industries. 

Every district Avhere mining is carried on to any extent 
should boast of a geological department, Avhich AAmuld do 
valuable Avork for science and practical mining. 

Any ])erson connected Avith any corporation who shall f 

subscribe, endorse or A^erify to the publication of a pros- j 

pectus, report or other jiaper which contains Avilfully fraud- • 

nlent or exaggerated statements regarding its property or | 

its operations, with the intention of defrauding any persons ! 

or the public generall}', should be deemed guilty of a felony. ^ 

^linino’ is capable, more tlian any other business or pur- j 

suit, of strict and Avholesome suiweillance, ensuring its lion- ' 

est and legitimate prosecution, if only the xiroper means be 
adopted. , ( 

If the laAvs are enforced it Avill go a long Avav towards 
revolutionizing mining, placing it upon a sounder basis by 
limiting the machinations of the unscrupnlous. ;; 

Prosperitv Avithout honor cannot live. Honorable i 

chairman and felloAV-members of this convention, let us ] 

stand shoulder to shoulder against this existing evil. 



Mining and Mineral Resources of Wisconsin 


BY W. O. HOTCHKISS, ECONOMIC GEOLOGIST STATE GEOLOGICAL 

SURVEY, MADISON, WISCONSIN. 

AA iscoiisin takes rank as one of the oldest mining states. 
Lead ore Avas discoAmred by Perrott in 1()92 and its presence 
AALas A'erified by Le Snenr in 1700 or 1701 and by John CarA er 
in 17()6. The earliest mining in tlie northern Mississippi 
district Avas done in loAva in 1788 on land that Avas later oc¬ 
cupied by a city named after the lirst miner, Julien Du¬ 
buque. 

The lead and zinc ores lie in a sedinientarA^ series Avhich 
rests on a granitic floor. The geological column consists of 
the folloAAHiig formations, named from the top doAvn: 

Niagara limestone. 

Cincinnati or Maquoketa Shales 
(Found only in the mounds pro- 
^ jecting above the general sur¬ 
face.) 

^ Galena magnesian limestone 250'. 

I (The chief surface rock.) 

I Platteville or Trenton magnesian limestone, 40' to 100', 

L St. Peters Sandstone, 50' to 150', 

j Lower magnesian limestone, 100' to 250', 

Potsdam Sandstone, 800' to 1000'. 

Pre-Cambrian Pre-Cambrian floor—granite, etc. 

■ The ore deposits, so far as known and mined at present, 
lie entirely in the Galena and Platteville magnesian lime¬ 
stones. These limestones are much alike, being separated 
by a few feet or inches of clay or shale. Part of this shale 
is sufficiently impregnated with oil to burn upon ignition 
after drying, and is knoAvn as the oil rock. Irregularities 
of deposition on the original sea-bottom on aa hich they AA^ere 
laid down, together with some small amount of settling 
and folding since, have jirodnced someAvhat gentle undula¬ 
tions in these beds. It Avas noticed by Professor T. C. Cham¬ 
berlin, who had charge of the State Geological Survey 
thirty years ago, that many of the mines seemed to lie in the 
bottom of these depressions in the strata. This suggestion 
Avas Avorked out definitely by Prof. V. S. Grant for the State 
Survey in his recent report on the district, and sliOAvn con- 
clusiA^ely by constructing from drill and Avell records the 
contours of the base of the Galena limestone. From the 


Silurian 


Ordovician 


Cambrian 




102 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


maps thus prepared, it was at once evident that these de¬ 
pressions or troughs had an unquestionable relation to the 
ore bodies. Whether this is due to the simple segregation 
of the ore-bearing solutions in these troughs or is largely 
due to other factors yet uuknoAvn is a question, but the un¬ 
doubted fact remains that the ore bodies lie in these depres¬ 
sions. This fact has been of great value in guiding the 
drilling operations in many cases. 

The ore bodies occur in ^^crevices,’’ ^^flats’’ and ^^pitches.” 
The crevices are simply joint planes widened by solution of 
the wall rock. They contained the greater part of the lead 
that was mined in the'earlv davs. The crevices lead down 
to the ^^flats,^’ where the ore spreads out into a blanket vein. 
These flats pitch down more or less steeply at the sides and 
are often connected below the first flat by secondary ones. 
These inclined veins at the sides of the flats are called 
pitches. The ore in the flats and pitches is chiefly galena 
and smithsonite above ground water level, and galena, 
sphalerite and pyrite below. 

Besides these forms of ore there is the disseminated va¬ 
riety in which the ore grains are scattered through the rock 
matrix. The disseminated ore is quite important now that 
concentrating mills have been erected to handle it, but in 
the old days it was not of very great value. 

The first mining concerned itself with lead onlv. 
^kTack^’ and ^hlrybone,’’ or sphalerite and smithsonite, wer^ 
impurities to be disposed of in the easiest manner possible. 
Indeed, a story is often told of how a certain road from the 
Old Penitentiary mine at Mifflin was built up several feet 
with hundreds of tons of the ^Svorthless’’ jack. Among the 
earliest to appreciate the value of the drybone were two 
young Germans who were acquainted with the German zinc 

fields. Thev built a small furnace at Mineral Point and 

* ’ 

went around picking up troublesome rocks off the farmers^ 
fields—as a favor to the farmer, of course—which they 
brought back to their little furnace and turned into spelter. 
Later on they began to pay a small amount for these ^^rocks” 
that were mostly smithsonite. During the Civil War they 
were able to command fancy prices for their product, which 
was in great demand for the manufacture of brass cannon. 
It is of interest to know that this firm is still in the business 
of zinc smelting, though they have to pay somewhat more 
for their ore than they formerly did. They are favorably 
known in the Wisconsin zinc field as ^The Matthiessen-Heg- 
eler people.’^ 


MINING AND MINERALS IN WISCONSIN lo!i 

The early lead miners were, for the most part, farmers 
who held mining as an avocation at which they could profit¬ 
ably employ their time when the weather did not necessitate 
or permit their doing farm labor. The lead lay in the pock¬ 
ets and crevices near the siiiface, and its extraction re¬ 
quired no inore capital than that necessary for the purchase 
of a shovel and the construction of a windlass and a hand- 
jig. Quite naturally, when these miners got so deep that 
they could no longer keep the water out by baling, they 
stopped operations and started a new hole. Many fields are 
still useless and idle because of the numerous ^^sucker holes’^ 
thus left by tlie early lead miners. Most of the few who 
tried to use steam pumps found that power was too costly 
and ore too cheap to make the venture profitable. 

About 1850 began a period of construction of long tun¬ 
nels to drain the ground into the valleys. Several projects 
of a very expensive nature for the times were completed, one 
being over two miles in length. The j)reduction of lead was 
at its maximum at this time, and companies cajiable of 
handling such undertakings had begun to operate. The 
production of pig lead, as given in Whitney’s Metallic 
Wealth of the United States—1854—increased from an av¬ 
erage of 2,324 tons per year for tlie decade from 1821-31 to 
an average of 21,598 tons per year for the decade from 
1841-51. From 1851-71 the production fell to about 7,000 
tons for the reason that the easily reached mineral above 
water level was being exhausted. The total value of the 
production of lead to date is estimated at |50,000,000; zinc 
at 110,000,000. 

The carbonate of zinc was first made use of in I860, 
when a production of 160 tons is chronicled. This became 
3,600 tons in 1866, and reached a maximum of 13,850 tons in 
1872. The sulphide, sphalerite, was first used in 1867, when 
420 tons were sold. This increased to 3,125 tons in 1869, 
and in 1875 the production was 10,270 tons. From this the 
production of drybone and sphalerite gradually decreased 
or held even till 1902, when the increasing prices for zinc 
caused the Wisconsin miners to sit up and take notice. 

There were a feAv mines Avhich had been Avorking 
quietly on rich pure deposits before this time, and wdien the 
higher prices came their profits became so great that the 
imaginations of the inhabitants Avere fired Avith enthusiasm. 
Every useless old field Avhere the ^^sucker holes” testified 
to the presence of a former lead digging, became possessed 
of a probable value as a zinc mine. Companies of local peo¬ 
ple Avere formed to secure leases and drill the ground to find 



104 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


if any of the prized ‘^jack’' was present. Tlie zinc occurs in 
a prosperous farming district, so it was very easy to get 
together a group of from live to fifty people who would ])iit 
in from |10 to |100 each to explore a piece of ^property. Of 
these, an nnnsnally large proportion for an ordinary mining 
district were successful in finding ore. .In one case—the 
David mine at Montfort—the company of fifty had each paid 
in a f5 assessment on tlieir |50 shares. The first hole was 
started with this money and struck fine looking ore. The 
stock immediately began to climb, and before the second 
hole had been sunk had been sold for as high as ?1,000. The 
second hole only a few feet from tlie first struck the same 
kind of oi-e, and some few shares changed hands at |1,850. 
In the citv of Platteville the clank of the drill was never 


out of hearing. It was reported that at one time one hun¬ 
dred and fiftv drills were working in the limits of this citv 
of about four thousand people. This excitement was mostly 
local, and local capital did a large part of the exploring. 

But this is only the story of the usual excitement when 
people are looking for ore. The test of the value of a dis¬ 
trict is its behavior after this excitement has (juieted down. 
If things are poorer than represented, the representatives 
of conservative capital will be turning away and quiet re¬ 
ports made that ^Tt’s only a bubble.’^ The case is different 
in AYisconsin, however. iVIany of the people that are most 
to be desired in a district are becoming interested. Men 
from Lake Superior iron ranges and the Michigan copper 
(‘oiintry from Hibbing and Duluth, from Iron mountain, 
Ishpeming and Calumet, liaA^e secured properties and are 
drilling and sinking shafts in many parts of the district. 
Tlie presence of these people speaks well for ])ermanence in 
a mining district—von will find them interested in verv 
few districts tliat are not most decidedly worth while. 

]\ranv new mills have been erected to take care of the 
ore from the noAV shafts, ami ihese mills haA'e brought neAv 
])roblems in concentration. The ore in the older mines Avas 
(‘omparatiA^ely free from iron sulphide, or ^^sulphur,’’ as 
locally designated. The newly opened deposits liaA^e had 
larger percentages of this to deal Avith in many cases, and 
as the smelters exact a penalty of one dollar per ton for each 
unit of iron over a minimum of li or 2 per cent., it is highly 
desirable to get rid of as much of it as possible. This has 
been done in more or less crude roasters, in AAdiich the pyrite 
is roasted to the magnetic sulphide and extracted by a mag¬ 
netic machine. Little attempt is made as yet to see that the 
temperature of the roaster is just that needed to separate 



MINING AND MINERALS IN WISCONSIN 


105 


oue atom of sulphur and reduce the FeS^ to FenSn.i—the 
maguetic form this is a saving that will doubtless come 
later. Experimeuts are beiug carried on by the Cliemical 
Eiigineeriiig Departmeut of the Uiiiversity of Wisconsin to 
see if better methods can not be applied. 

The mills consist of a series of crushers and jigs of the 
Missouri type. They are largely unprovided with slime ta¬ 
bles of any sort—all ores too fine for the jigs to save being 
sent into tlie tailings. The usual contract on a new mill is 
that it shall sai e 85 per cent, of the ore in the rock, but it 
is doubtful if many of them are keeping u]) to this standard. 
One mill test described in the Mining ^lagazine for June by 
Benjamin Hodge, a mining engineer at Platteville, shows 
a saving of 8(1 per cent, when the heads ran 17.04 p(‘r cent. 
In his analysis of tlie tailings he found that the material 
which went through a 40-mesh sieve was 14 per cent, of the 
tailings and carried 0.2 per cent, of zinc—tliis being prob¬ 
ably fairly representative of Hie district and showing the 
urgent need of tables. Mr. Hodge had a table installed at 
this mill, where it gave verv satisfadorv results. 


It is practi(*ally imjiossible to state an average for the 
zinc content of the ore that is being milled. That given 
above in jMr. Hodge’s test is probably a little too high to rep¬ 
resent the average. Considerable ore bearing from 1 per 
cent, to 25 jier cent, zinc is milled, and it is doubtful if much 
ore running below 10 per cent, is treated at present, though 
it undoubtedly will be in the near future, but Avhere between 
these ordinary limits the average lies can not be stated. 

The production of zinc for 1904 was sold for about 
1500,000 and the lead value was estimated at |135,000. In 
1905 this production Avas still greater and in 1906 Avill be be- 
tAveen |2,000,000 and |3,000,000. The number of neAA^ pro¬ 
ducing mines added to the list in 1905-6 has been large 


enough to raise the production to about one-seventh that of 
the Joplin district. It does not seem excessive, therefore, to 
estimate this year’s production at the figures above given. 

When it is recalled that hardly four years ago the first 
modern concentrating mill AAms erected and the use of the 
old hand jigs discontinued, and that since that time the pro¬ 
duction has increased from about |250,000 AAmrth of ore to 
nearly $3,000,000 Avorth, the rapid progress of the Wisconsin 
district is evident. But the end is by no means in sight. 


Thirty-five mills have been built in 1906, and more mines 
Avill be added to the producing list in 1906 than in 1905, so 
the increase is bound to continue. It is quite possible that 
the Wisconsin district may never equal the Missouri mines 




106 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


in maximum output, but there is much territory 3 ^et to be 
explored, iu which the probable chances of finding ore are 
as good as they were two years ago on the land of some of 
the new big properties. Ne^ discoveries are continually 
being made and more being sought for. Consequently if the 
present favorable prices continue, it may be confidently ex¬ 
pected that Wisconsin will rapidly take an important place 
as a zinc-producing state. 

Although zinc is at present occupying a larger share 
of the attention of the mining man who turns his thoughts 
towards Wisconsin, it must not be forgotten that Wisconsin 
produces iron ore of a value of about |1,000,000 more than 
the value of its zinc ore. This iron comes from the Gogebic, 
Baraboo, Florence and Iron Ridge districts. There are 
great areas of likely territory for the prospector for iron 
also. Known outcrops of Huronian rocks of the same kind 
as those iu which the enormous ore beds of the Lake Supe¬ 
rior districts are found are a standing invitation to the man 
with sufficient capital and daring to drill them for iron. 
Some of these have been drilled in recent years and iron for¬ 
mations were found. 

In conclusion, then, W^isconsin, with its f60,000,000 
record of lead and zinc and its annual |5,000,000 and more 
of metallic mineral products, must be granted recognition 
as a mining state. 


The Geological Distribution of Gold 


BY T. A. RICKARD, EDITOR OF THE MINING AND SCIENTIFIC PRESS, 

BERKEDEY, CALIFORNIA. 

^Ylleu gold was discovered at Ballarat, in Australia, 
there was a great rush of adveiiturers to the diggings. It 
is recorded that in November, 1851, Henry La Trobe, the 
tirst governor of the new colony of Victoria, paid an official 
visit to the goldfield. As he rode among the sluice-boxes and 
pits of the miners, he was fascinated by the glamor of the 
search for gold, and became keenl}^ interested in the man¬ 
ner of its occurrence. Finally, finding himself talking to 
an old Cornishman of more than average intelligence, the 
governor said: ^L\.nd from where do you think the gold 
comes?’’ The old miner leaned on his shovel and scratched 
his head, as he replied: ^AVhere it is, there it is; and where 
it ain’t, there be I.” For fifty-five years tliat reply has been 
echoed from many a prospect hole on both sides of the 
equator; it has been received as the last word of geolog¬ 
ical vision and the eiDitome of mining realization. The 
story is founded on fact and it is confirmed by individual 
experience, and yet it does but serve ,to empliasize the 
advance which has been made during half a century of 
investigation. The jibe at geology Avhich makes other ver¬ 
sions of this original incident pass current among those 
that seek mineral wealth, is not warranted to-day. We 
have emerged from the uncertain shadows of the dawn; 
geology and mining face each other now with a better un¬ 
derstanding than in the golden age of Australian and Cali¬ 
fornian discovery. 

The practical aid which geology gives is a compara¬ 
tively recent development of the application of science to 
industry. When geology was yet an infant, looking at the 
world from out of the cradle of Lyell’s ^‘Principles,” min¬ 
ing had already attained a venerable age. The young 
science offered to guide the old blind delver of the rocks 
and in the effort made several childish mistakes, which are 
still remembered in the days of its maturity. 

Sir Ivoderick iMurchison made the chief of tliese blun¬ 
ders that at one time estranged the geologist from the 
miner. The story of an error made by a man of such ac¬ 
knowledged talent should not merely provoke derision now 
that w^e have the ampler light of a fuller day and, possess- 




108 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


ing facts Avliicli Avere unknown to him, can tlius, as it were, 
Avrite last A^ear’s almanac, but it should furnish a striking 
AAUirning against confounding a coincidence \A ith a conse¬ 
quence and being led thereby to frame a AAude generaliza¬ 
tion upon a narroAA^ basis. It aauII be remembered that in 
the course of his famous elaboration of the Silurian SA^stem 
he made a study of the Ural mountains, including the gold 
fields of that region, AAdiich in the first half of the last cen¬ 
tury AAere of far greater importance than they are noAA\ 
On his return from Kussia, the results of liis iiiA^estigatlons 
appeared in seA^eral papers, AAdiich Avere published during 
1841 and the succeeding years. In 1844 he dreAA^ attention 
to the similarity existing betAA een the gold-bearing rocks of 
the Urals and certain specimens from Australia, sent to him 
by his friend Count Strzelecki. The Ural rocks AA^ere highly 
altered crystalline schists, AAdiile those from Australia Avere 
silicious slates. Both AA^ere of LoAA^er Silurian age, as AAms 
proA^ed by fossils and correlation. Murchison noted the re¬ 
semblance betAA^een these rocks and remarked that the Aus¬ 
tralian specimens exhibited quartz, although no gold had 
as vet been found. Furthermore, he drew attention to the 
similarity in the trend of the Australian cordillera and his 
beloA^ed Urals. He really knew nothing about the geolog¬ 
ical structure of Australia; iieA^ertheless, the analogies 
AA hich he detected led him to suggest that the Blue Moun¬ 
tains in NeAA^ South Wales might also contain gold-bearing 
veins. In 1846 he learned that specimens of gold ore had 
actually been found there, and he then advised Cornish 
miners to go to Australia to search for gold. In the mean- 
Avhile, he liad giA^en out a statement, based on his studies 
in Eussia, that gold Avould be found to be exclusively con- 
fiued to the Paleozoic rocks, aud especially to the LoAver 
Silurian. Therefore, Avhen, in 1851, it AAms announced that 
wonderful discoveries of gold had been made in Victoria 
amid beds of slate and sandstone belonging to this geolog¬ 
ical period, they Avere heralded as the confirmation of a 
scientific dictum, and Murchison was generally congratu¬ 
lated on his successful prediction. He congratulated him¬ 
self. In the third edition of ^^Siluria,’^ published iu 1859, 
the ^dnductUe reasoning’’ which led to his hypothesis is 
repeated, and he says: ^Aly chief article of belief lias noAV 
proved to be true—that is, that the rocks Avhich are most 
auriferous are of Silurian age.” The unfortunate gener¬ 
alization is again worded thus: ^The Paleozoic accumula¬ 
tions * * * particularly the Lower Silurian * * * 

are the chief sources whence gold'has been or is deriA^ed.” 

I •*" 







GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OP GOLD 


lOU 


Australia indeed appeared to corroborate this. It was 
not until 1864, when the results of the Avork of the Geologi¬ 
cal Survey of California, under Whitney, were published, 
that the Silurian formation lost a pre-eminence to which it 
Avas neA^er entitled. The gold-bearing rocks of California 
Avere found to belong to the Jurassic. Murchison’s hypoth¬ 
esis AAms confounded. It AA^as a fallacy Avhich the later de¬ 
velopment of gold-mining districts in other parts of the 
globe has shattered into as many fragments as there are 
subdivisions of geological time. 

The folloAving tabulated statement shows at a glance 
that the chief gold fields of the Avorld are scattered through 
the entire sequence of geological strata, from the Archean 
to the Tertiaiw. The Lower Silurian of the Urals is uoaa^ 
scarcely Avorth mentioning, the gold production of that re¬ 
gion haAing dAvindled to insignificance. Since Murchison’s 
day the geographical center of Ilussia’s gold production has 
shifted steadily eastAvard. It Avas once at Ekaterinburg, in 
the Urals; it jiassed to the Yenesei, and then to the Olekma. 
To-day the chief gold region is that Avhich is drained by 
the Amoor and its tributaries. The gold fields of Victoria, 
in Australia, also refuse, noAV, to be identified any longer 
AAutli Murchison’s blunder, seA^eral of the best districts in 
that colony having been deA^eloped in the Upper Silurian, 
as distinguished from the prevailing LoAver Silurian of the 


Geological Distribution of Gold as Illustrated by the Prineiiial Miuiiig 


Period. 
Quarternary ^ 
Tertiary 
Cretaceous 
Jurassic 
Triassic 
Permian 
Carboniferous 
Devonian 
Silurian 
Cambrian 
Algonkian 
Archean 


Districts of 

Rock 
Andesite 
Eruptive 
Sandstone 
Amphibolite Schist 
Limestone 
Conglomerate 
Shale 

Conglomerate 
Slate and Sandstone 
Slate and Quartzite 
Schist 

Granite and Schist 


the World. 

District 
Monte Cristo - 
Cripple Creek 
Verespatak 
Mariposa 
Raibl 
Stupna 
Gympie 

AA^itwatersrand 

Bendigo 

Waverley 

Homestake 

Lake of the AA'oods 


Region 
AA’'ashington 
Colorado 
Transylvania 
California 
Carinthia 
Bohemia 
Queensland 
Transvaal 
Victoria 
Nova Scotia 
South Dakota 
Ontario 


first discovered gold A^eins at Ballarat and Bendigo. NeAver 
mining regions, scattered all over the globe, afford testi¬ 
mony Avhich denies the supposed relation beUveen gold de¬ 
posits and the age of the rock enclosing them. Although 
numerous rich districts occur in igneous formations of the 
Tertiary period, no important gold field of the present day 
is identified with sedimentary rocks later than the Creta¬ 
ceous; nevertheless, to make tlie testimony complete, it can 
be stated that a conglomerate of undoubted Tertiary age, 
covering an extensive area in soutliAvestern Colorado, con¬ 
tains gold veins, Avhich have been mined at a profit. If 
eruptive rocks be included, Ave have the testimony of J. E. 


110 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Spurr that the gold veins of Monte Cristo, in the state of 
Washington, occur in andesite and tonalyte of Pleistocene 
or Quaternary age, and at Steamboat Springs, Nevada, gold 
has been detected in cracks traversing the sinter around a 
thermal vent; tliis rock can therefore be labeled Kecent. 
The Laurentian granitoid-gneiss of Avestern Ontario is tra¬ 
versed by important gold-bearing lodes. Therefore, the 
record of the rocks, in regard to their association with the 
occurrence of gold, is unbroken throughout the main divi¬ 
sions of geological time. 

If geological authorities liaA^e made blunders in the 
application of theories to actual mining, it is only fair to 
acknowledge that practical mining captains have erred no 
less. Their errors, like tliose of greater men, have also 
sprung from that little knowledge Avhich is proA^erbially 
dangetous. Thus, possessing, as a rule, no wide geological 
training, they a^mid the pitfalls awaiting them in that di¬ 
rection only to get mired among hasty deductions based on 
the recognition of the pliysical peculiarities of rocks. For 
instance, in most mining districts the idea prevails among 
mining men that a particular rock is favorable to the occur¬ 
rence of gold and silver ; this may be true indeed of any one 
especial locality, but I liaA^e commonly found that mining 
men apply their restricted experience to other, and quite 
dissimilar, districts by the use of SAveepiug generalizations 
which are based on such local knoAvledge alone. Thus, in 
South Africa, granite is looked upon askance as being ex¬ 
tremely unlikely to contain profitable gold veins, and those 
who have had their experience in the Transvaal are apt to 
be pessimists when they find themselves amid a granite en- 
Auronment. In Colorado, slate and schist are not character¬ 
istic of successful mining, therefore these rocks are unfavor¬ 
ably regarded, while granite is accepted as a likely terrane. 
In California, the great gold mining belt is in slate and 
schist, Avhile on the other hand the granite of the Sierra 
Nevada has been less successfully explored, therefore, 
^^black slate’^ is the desired eAudence of probable richness. 
A mining district in India Avas recently condemned for the 
reason that the prevailing rock AAms a hornblende schist and 
yet the productive Kolar gold field is situated amid rocks 
of this very kind. Limestone is regarded in Colorado as 
the depository of enormous ore bodies, such as have made 
Leadville and Aspen famous, but in British Columbia it is 
considered, by many, to suggest small and erratic occur¬ 
rences of ore, much less desirable than the supposedly per¬ 
sistent type of vein that occui)ies a fault fracture. 


GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OP GOLD 


111 


Tliese^ generalizations have delayed the discovery of 
several mining regions which are now highly productive. 
Experienced Australian miners passed by the conglomerate 
lodes of the Witwatersrand because the conditions were be¬ 
yond their ken, which was largely confined to the slate and 
sandstone of such districts as Bendigo and Ballarat. The 
Cornishmen who had worked successfnlli^ for tin in their 
native land and for gold in Victoria failed to recognize the 
possibilities of Broken Hill. When Cripx)le Creek was 
first visited by old mine managers from the Gilpin and 
Leadville districts, an unfavorable verdict was pronounced 
by men who were more familiar with granite and limestone, 
as ore-bearing rocks, than ivith an intricate series of new 
volcanics. In the case of this, the richest gold-producing 
district in North America, I can vouch for the fact that the 
men of science proved far better prophets than those who 
were versed in the actual practice of mining; the latter sup¬ 
posed that the conditions at Crij^ple Creek were unique, a 
supposition which disregarded the fact that the larger num¬ 
ber of the richest veins in the San Juan region, in the same 
state, were in a rock of almost identical age and composi¬ 
tion, and, to go farther afield, that there were at least two 
foreign localities, Transylvania and New Zealand, where a 
similar andesite-breccia had proved to be the envelope to 
rich lodes of gold and silver ore. 

Instances of similar blunders might be multiplied. But 
it is not necessary. Are they not written in the chronicles 
Avhich tell the story of mining discovery the Avorld oA^er? 
Besides, it Avill serve no useful purpose to deal in destruc- 
tiA^e criticism only ; the recital of the foregoing facts is in¬ 
tended to clear the ground before offering something, b(; it 
only a rough stone or tAVO, whereAvith to build a permanent 
structure. We liaA^e discarded the old notions that con¬ 
nected the occurrence of gold Avith any special stratigraphic 
horizon or a particular petrographic encasement, in other 
words, any one formation or any one rock; then let us ask 
if there be not some other generalization that avails us in 
the search for the metal. Is it all without rhyme or reason, 
is the gold as much in sea water as in syenite, in the young¬ 
est and in the oldest rock, in high mountains and in flat 
deserts? The answer is that the occurrence of ore depends 
neither on the geological age nor the petrography of a dis¬ 
trict, but upon local structural conditions and upon an 
eruptiA^e activity often identified Avith specific periods in 
geological time. To come to particulars, there is plenty of 
evidence, which I have collected during the last ten years 



112 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


and which is too bulky to be offered on this occasion, that 
the eruptii^e rocks closely associated with the deposits of 
the precious metals in Colorado are of early Tertiary age; 
they are post-Cretaceous and pre-Pliocene. The close of 
the Cretaceous period in Colorado was one of mountain- 
making, it was a time of great orographic movement, that 
is, the main ranges of the Kocky mountains underwent slow 
uplift and, in the process, their constituent strata w'ere 
folded and buckled, were crushed and fractured. Accom¬ 
panying this disturbance, possibly the cause of it, more 
probably a manifestation of deeper unrest, there came a 
tremendous outpouring of lava. Some of it was emitted 
violently from orifices so as to form volcanoes, as at Cripple 
Creek and Silver Cliff, some of it fell into large areas of 
fresh water and consolidated into nearly horizontal de¬ 
posits of breccia, as in the San Juan, and another ]3ortion 
remained in the shape of dikes, sheets, and cores of igneous 
rock traversing the older formations in diverse directions 
and shapes, as at Leadville and in Gilpin. This epoch of 
volcanic ruction lasted long, it Avas intense during early 
Eocene time, and again at the close of that period, contin¬ 
uing into the Miocene; and as the vulcanism died out, it 
had its sequel in a longer era of thermal actiAuty, that is, 
the volcanic heat no longer expressed itself in the explosiA^e 
escape of steam and rock fragments, but Avas manifested 
in the heating of underground Avaters and in the quickening 
of their solvent action, their circulation, and the precipita¬ 
tion of their contents in the approach to surface. Wher¬ 
ever Ave know the age of the eruptiA^e rocks in contact with, 
or related to, the occurrence of gold (and silver) in Colorado, 
Ave find them to be post-Cretaceous; sometimes AA^e can as¬ 
certain definitely that they are Eocene or Miocene. This 
is true of the quartz-felsite of Leadville and Aspen, the 
phonolite of Cripple Creek, the andesite of Ouray and Tel- 
luride, the porphyrite of Rico, the rhyolite of Sih^er Cliff, 
Summitville, and Creede, the diorite of Ophir and-La Plata 
mountains, and when we come to the mining districts in 
unstratified rocks, such as the granitoid gneiss of Boulder, 
Gilpin and Clear Creek, we find a quartz-andesite in the 
localities where profitable mining is being done; and wdiile 
Ave can not determine the age of that intrusiA^e, for lack of 
younger rocks that it penetrates, we find that it bears a 
close petrographic analogy to the quartz-felsite or porphyry 
of Leadville, which does (as at Breckenridge) penetrate the 
Cretaceous. I know of no eruptive affiliated Avith profitable 
gold or sih^er ore deposits in Colorado that is geologically 


GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF GOLD 


113 


older than early Tertiary. In Colorado, therefore, a partic¬ 
ular period of viilcauism and its sequelae of thermal activ¬ 
ity are identified with the formation of the fractures and 
the deposition of the ore, respectively, that have given us 
valuable mines. 

In other regions, it is likely that other x^eriods Avere 
beneficial to the miner. It Avonld be an old sort of blunder 
to conclude that the particular conditions observed in Colo¬ 
rado must have ivorld-wide application. No blanket theory 
Avill do. To illustrate; in eastern Australia (in Neiv South 
Wales and Queensland) the great ejioch of erujitive activity 
was much earlier than in Colorado, namely, at the close of 
the Carboniferous period; that was Australia’s time of 
mountain building, the Carboniferous strata being often 
found standing vertical underneath the horizontal beds of 
the Permian, thus constituting the greatest unconformity in 
Australian geology. This period is identified Avith the coal 
measures and, strange as it may seem to ns in America, xAuth 
gold deposition, for in many portions of the basal beds of 
the Permo-Carboniferous series alluvial gold is found, some¬ 
times in such quantity as to be Avorth mining. The rock 
characteristic of this eruptive period and associated Avith 
the gold deposits of the eastern part of Australia is a grano- 
diorite, sometimes differentiated as quartz-felsite. There is 
no evidence of regional eruption in eastern Australia later 
than the Carboniferous; there are basic laAms belonging to 
late Cretaceous and early Tertiary time, but they are local 
and no ore bodies are associated with them. At Bendigo 
and Ballarat, of course, in southern Australia, Ave have Ter¬ 
tiary basaltic dikes in close association Avith the gold veins, 
but there is evidence suggesting that the original lode for¬ 
mation was started at the time when the neighboring gran¬ 
ite was extruded, and that was at the close of the Silurian 
period and before the Devonian sediments Avere laid doAvn; 
there is also good reason to believe that to the Tertiary vul- 
canism we oAve the resolution and concentration of the gold 
in the ore bodies valuable to man, in Victoria. That factor 
—of later mineralization and concentration—is less appar¬ 
ent in New South Wales, which has no gold fields compara¬ 
ble to Bendigo and Ballarat. In the Transvaal the conglom¬ 
erate is of Devonian age, but the dikes that penetrate it and 
that have influenced the distribution of the profitable ore 
are of Tertiary age. 

The subject is immensely wide—wide as the Avorld— 
and it is difficult to compress an intelligent treatment of it 
within reasonable limits. Deposits of gold ore occur in 





114 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


rocks of every age and in rock of every kind. The metal Avas 
deposited later than the encasing rock and it is likely that 
since it AA^as so deposited it has been subject to constant 
solution and precijiitation, by Avhich it has been re-distrib- 
uted and concentrated. The first deposition, the time Avhen 
it Avas brought from beloAv the zone of rock fracture to the 
place of precipitation, Avas associated Avith a thermal activ-, 
ity folloAving upon regional moA-ements and Amlcanic erup¬ 
tions; that time of first formation may haA^e been late or 
early, in the Cambrian or the Cretaceous of geological his¬ 
tory. But once so deposited, it became at once the sport of 
the chemical Avaters that find a passage both from tlie sur¬ 
face and from the deep. These may have effected no note- 
Avorthy re-distribution of the gold along the rock fractures 
Avhere the ore lies; such Avas the case apparently in 
South Wales, for the gold deposited in Carboniferous time 
has not traA^eled far or been concentrated much. In other 
regions, for example in Colorado, a much later era of frac¬ 
turing and vulcanism has afforded the intense thermal activ¬ 
ity that led to the formation of neAA^ rich veins and lodes, or 
caused the re-distribution and concentration of the gold in 
older and poorer deposits. 

After all, ‘it is only the concentrations of gold that in¬ 
terest us as miners; there is gold everyAvliere, eA^en in sea 
Avater, but Avhat Ave as miners Avant to knoAV is Avhere is 
there ore rich enough to more than pay the cost of exploita¬ 
tion and extraction. The old miner scratched his head and 
said, Where it is, there it is; and av here it ain’t, there be I.” 
The rest of us liaA’e often been Avhere it Avas not and Ave sym¬ 
pathize Avith him, but yet not Avithout hope, for Ave knoAV 
some of the causes that tended to concentrate the gold in 
one place and to impoA^erish the vein in another. The Avorld 
that lies underground may be dark and yet the safety lamp 
of science can be depended upon for some light, and-*as A\"e 
learn hoAV to pass the dangerous places of uncertain knoAAd- 
edge, AA'e shall at last be able to use AAuthout danger the 
naked illumination of substantiated theory. 


# 


i 


The Prevention of Mine Accidents 


BY EDWARD W. PARKER. 

In the circular announcing the provisional program for 
this, the Ninth Annual Session of the American Mining 
Congress, it is stated that it is expected that the convention 
will devote itself to arriving at a consensus of oi^inion as 
to what action will bring about the greatest development 
of the mining industry. With this proposition I think every 
member and delegate present is in perfect accord, and prop¬ 
erly directed efforts must meet with gratifying results. But 
in the reaching after the material things of life, there are 
other matters affecting the mining industry which should 
not only not be overlooked, but which should receive the 
earnest attention of this organization. I note with sincere 
pleasure that one of the papers to be presented at this meet¬ 
ing is on the prevention of mining frauds by state legisla¬ 
tion, by Governor Pardee of California. More injury has 
been done the mining industry by the operations of unscru¬ 
pulous promoters than could possibly be estimated, and 
any action taken by this convention whicli will tend toward 
the correction of these abuses will redound to the substan¬ 
tial benefit of the American Mining Congress. 

But the particular subject which I desire to present 
as one worthy of your consideration is tlie securing, by 
legislative action or otherwise, of greater safety to mine 
employes. We have not, unfortunately, statistical data re¬ 
lating to casualties in all branches of the mining industry, 
but we have through the reports of mine inspectors some 
statistics of the accidents occurring in the coal mines of the 
country. A compilation which I have made from these offi¬ 
cial reports shows that in seventeen states, whose total 
production amounted in 1905 to 360,092,237 short tons, or 
nearly ninety per cent, of the total for the United States, 
and whose coal mines gave employment to 577,884, out of 
a total of 626,315 men employed in the coal mines of the 
United States, the total number of men killed was 2,097, 
while 4,402 were injured more or less seriously. About one- 
half the men killed left widows, and about 2,500 children 
were left fatherless. The death rate per 1,000 employes was 
3.53, while for every 175,000 tons of coal, mined, one life 

was sacrificed. 

Coal mining entails dangers that are not common to 
other classes of mining, for in addition to the liability to 



116 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


accident from falls of rock, premature blasts, accidental 
explosion of powder or dynamite, falls of cages and other 
causes common to all kinds of underground work, the coal 
miner is always facing the danger of explosions of gas, or 
dust, or a mixture of both, and of siift'ocatiou by afterdamp 
(CO“), white damj) (CO), or siilphureted hydrogen (HgS). In 
1905, out of the above 2,097 men killed, 252, or about twelve 
per cent., were victims of gas or dust explosions, each of 
which killed three or more men. I am unable to state how 
many were victims of suffocation. One explosion of dust 
at the Virginia mine, in Alabama, was responsible for the 
death of 112 persons and gave that state the unenviable dis¬ 
tinction of the largest death rate per thousand, and the 
smallest tonnage for each life lost. An explosion of gas 
at the Zeigler mine, in Illinois, killed fifty men, and two ex¬ 
plosions of dust at the Red Ash mines, in West Virginia, 
counted twentv-four victims. 

It is true that in some cases accidents are unavoidable, 
and it is just as true that in many cases the accidents could 
have been prevented if proper precautions had been taken 
by the operators or their agents, but it is also true, unhap¬ 
pily, that in the probable majority of cases the fault lay in 
the carelessness of the men themselves or of their fellow 
employes. In Penns 3 dvania, for instance, out of thirteen 
accidents in 1905 which resulted in the death of more than 
one jierson each, the reports of the investigations into the 
causes jilaced .the responsibility in eight cases upon the 
victims or their fellow workmen, two were classed as un¬ 
avoidable, and in two cases the responsibility was not fixed. 
One which was due to the breaking of the hoisting rope 
might have been avoided had the safety clutches been in 
proper order, but I do not know whether the company was 
held responsible, or not. It appears, however, that out of 
eleven avoidable accidents tlie responsibility in eight cases 
was placed, rightly or Avrongiy, upon the Avorkmen. It 
seems next to impossible to impress upon some miners the 
hazardous nature of their employment, and to make them 
take the simplest iirecautions to avoid accident. They are 
in danger all the time. It is such a ])art of their lives that 
they groAv callous to it and, therefore, careless. A naked 
lain]) on tlie ca]) or in the hand of a miner may ignite a 
small pocket of gas Avhich Avill, in turn, start a train of ex¬ 
plosions of dust and gas that Avill aa reck the mine’and sacri¬ 
fice a hundred or more lives. I liaA^e seen a miner, after hav¬ 
ing cautioned another workman not to go into the head of 
a gangAvay just opening up, as gas Avas there and the ventil- 



THE PREVENTION OF MINE ACCIDENTS. 


117 


ation was not carried forward, lift his naked lamp nearly 
to the roof, not twenty feet away from the ^hlangerous’’ 
spot, to see if there were gas enough np tliere to explode. 
The only thing that prevented me from running away was 
the knowledge that if the gas did explode, the force of the 
explosion would travel about 10,000 times as fast as 1 could, 
and that I should only be laughed at if nothing happened. 

Improperly placed or carelessh- tamped blasting 
charges, which result in windy’’ or ^^blown-out”* shots, are 
responsible for a large number of fatal accidents. A windy 
shot is apt to stir up an explosive mixture of dust and air 
which, ignited by the tiame, will result in a disastrous ex¬ 
plosion. The explosion at the Virginia mine, in Alabama, 
the worst one recorded in 1905, was due to this cause. 

That the responsibility for accidents in coal mines is 
placed (officially, at least) upon tlie workers rather than 
upon the operators, is perhaps not without reason. It is not 
an altogetlier unselfish motive that prompts the owners of 
property to protect it, even if tliey had no thought for their 
employes. And my observation has been that they are not 
c-areless of the safety of their men. It is a self-evident prop- 
, <,sition that owners of mines will endeavor to prevent acci¬ 
dents which, in addition to the sacrifice of lives, may mean 
ihe loss of thousands of dollars in property. 

If there is any place on or in the earth wliere a military 
type of discipline should be enforced, it is in coal mines, 
pairticularly deep and gaseous ones, but unfortunately flie‘ 
laws in this country are lax in many particulars, and at¬ 
tempts to discipline employes for disregard of rules estab¬ 
lished by operators themselves for the protection of lives 
and property, are apt to result in strikes, which may lay 
the mine idle for weeks, or even months. It seems to me 
thar there is a chance here for a campaign of education that 
it would be well for this organization to consider. 

It is rather a reflection on our boasted progress in civ¬ 
ilization that this, the greatest mining country in the world, 
furnishes the worst record for the hnmber of accidents as 
compared with the number of men employed. A recent edi-' 
torial in ‘Alines and Minerals,” ])ublished in Scranton, 
Pennsylvania, and which stands high as a reliable and con¬ 
servative periodica], states that in England in 1905 the 
death rate per thousand was only 1.85, as compared with 
3.53 for the coal mines of the United States. 

We have in the past few years forged rapidly ahead of 
Great Britain as a coal producing country. Previous to 
1899 Great Britain produced more coal each year than we 


118 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


did, but we took first place in 1899, and last year (1905) our 
production of coal was almost exactly fifty per cent, more 
than Great Britain's. But while we have sliown this great 
material progress, we have accomplished it at a sacrifice 
of human life that puts us in an unenviable position when 
compared witli other countries. In Belgium, where there 
are some of the deepest coal mine workings in continental 
Europe, and where the mines, are of the most dangerous 
character,«as far as containing explosive gases is concerned, 
the death rate is barely one-third of what it is in this 
countrv. 

In connection with this I should like to call attention 
to what looks like something of an awakening of interest 
in this very important subject. There is to be held in the 
city of New York, from January 28th to February 9, 1907, 
inclusive, an exposition of devices for safeguarding life and 
limb, and for preventing accidents in mines and in other 
industrial enterprises. This exposition is to be held under 
the auspices of the American Institute of Social Service at 
the Museum of Natural History, in NeAV York City. Among 
the groups of exhibits to be shoAvn at this time are the fol¬ 
lowing: 

First aid to the injured. Mining and quarrying; dev^ices 
in use on stone crushing machinery, etc.; storing of explos¬ 
ives. Metal industry, safety devices for metal working 
machinery. Safety appliances for elevators and hoisting 
apparatus models. Personal equipment of Avorkmen; jjro- 
tective spectacles, respirators, suits, etc. Ventilation, re¬ 
ports of labor departments; industrial arbitration courts, 
etc. 

It is something of a reflection upon us when Ave consider 
that we are nearly tAventy years (eighteen, to be exact) be¬ 
hind the times in making an exposition of this character. 
In 1889 such an exposition Avas held in Germany, and an¬ 
other in 1893 Avas held at Amsterdam, and there have been 
several other similar expositions in continental Europe and 
in Canada. Museums of securitv liaA^e been established at 

C/ 

Vienna in 1890, at Amsterdam in 1893, and others later 
in Munich, Berlin, Paris, and eA^en in Russia. 

In the issue of ^^Mines and Minerals,’’ previously re¬ 
ferred to, the attention of the American Mining Congress 
is called to this important matter, and I consider it a priA"- 
ilege to second and endorse the suggestion made by the edi¬ 
tor of that paper. I think that the exposition in NeAV York 
will be one of exceeding interest, and I trust that a number 
of the members of this Congres^Avill be able to be present. 


Copper Deposits of Washington 


BY HON. ALBER'I W. MeINTYRE, EVERETT, WASHINGTON. 

^^Tlie Cascade chain of mountaius forms the central di¬ 
vide of the state of Washington. The rocks are granites, 
hanked by paleozoic, mesozoic and metaniorphic strata, and 
are much like the Sierras of California. They were up- 
heaved in large ])art before the Cretaceous, and, since then, 
other movements have occurred. There are vast develop¬ 
ments of igneous rocks, forming, as at Mount Kainier, some 
of the highest American peaks. West of the Cascade range 
is a great valley, fornierh^ marking a drainage system, but 
now covered, partially, by glacial drifts, and largely by the 
waters of Puget Sound. The Glacial deposits are enormous, 
and render tlie problem of working out the geology very 
difficult. Some glaciers remain on the heights, even to the 
present day. West of the Puget Sound basin is the northern 
extension of the coast range, locally known as the Olympics, 
and largely Cretaceous and Tertiary strata.”* 

^‘This is an area of granite, traversed by late eruptives, 
and suggests geological conditions known to be favorable 
to copper deposits elsewhere, as at Butte.”** 

Prof. Milnor Boberts, dean of the School of Mines of 
the University of Washington, says: ^‘On the western slope 
of the Cascade mountains in Washington in the region 
where the Great Northern railroad crosses the Cascade 
range, is a belt, about fifty miles in length and several 
miles in width, extending both northwest and southeast of 
the railroad in which veins bearing copper (chiefly), gold 
and silver are numerous.” 

This region, so far as the outside world is concerned, is 
almost a terra incognita, many things having combined to 
deter discovery and development of mineral deposits. The 
prospector, on the Pacific coast, looked, and still looks, for 
gold placers, next, gold-bearing quartz. He was not in the 
position to profit by the discovery of copper-bearing veins 
or deposits, even if he had recognized them. They were sim¬ 
ply ^ffiase” and worthless to him. An illustration is to be 
found in the Copper Mountain lode in Shasta county, Cali* 
fornia, which was known to prospectors for many years be- 


*Kemp’s Ore Deposits of United States and Canada. 

♦♦Mining and Scientific Press No, 2406, 




120 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


\ 


fore it was suspected to contain large and ricli copper de¬ 
posits. If the prospector liad known that there were copper 
deposits beneath these unprofitable cappings it would have 
made no difference to him. Transportation was impossible 
without trunk lines, either to bring out*the ores or take in 
the necessary metallurgical plant. The almost impenetra¬ 
ble forests covering the slopes of the Cascade mountains, 
render pros])ecting extremely difficult and add greatly to 
the work of prospecting the liigher peaks and ridges of the 
granite core, ivliich can be reached only by trails cut, at 
heavy expense, through the timber and underbrush, tropical 
in their density. Where some of the more accessible veins 


were discovered, often in the edge of the belt, capital to de¬ 
velop, in amounts adequate to the purpose, were not obtain¬ 
able, with the result that mere attempts were made with 
trifling capital, and often with management that . would 
have failed with any capital, however great. The local 
community, without knowledge of mining or mineral re¬ 
sources, being farmers and loggers, could not be appealed 
to successfully for even the little capital in its possession, 
and which was largely dissipated during the stringent 
times of a dozen years ago. A¥ithout capital, often without 
the sympathy even of those engaged in other industries 
about them, the few who appreciated somewhat the char¬ 
acter and value of the mineral resources of this region and 
strove to utilize them, struggled against a situation that 
would have discouraged anyone not absolutely convinced 
of the existence of copper deposits worth every effort and 
sacrifice to develop and market. The mining stock sharper 
added his brilliant efforts to the sum total of drawbacks. 

The discovery of gold in the Klondike swept practically 
every miner and prospector of the Cascades into the 
^ffrozen^’ north and onlv recentlv has something like a reac- 
tion set in that permits attention to be called to nearby 
resources of even greater permanent value. 

Unfortunately for the development of the copper belt, 
as well as the valuable gold veins in the Monnt Baker and 
Slate Creek regions, the Monte Cristo arsenic-gold district 
became identified with and regarded as typical of the whole 
Cascade range and of the whole state. As a gold-arsenic 
producer, the district has no place here, but the effect of its 
geological character and its experiences, upon the develop¬ 
ment of tlie copper deposits, justify an attempt to differen¬ 
tiate and distinguish briefly the latter from the former. 


So far as the writer is aware, the Monte Cristo mining 
district is the only one in tjie Cascades specially reported 





COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 


121 


by the United States Geological Survey. J. E. Spurr’s re¬ 
port is able, careful and conipreliensive, so far as informa¬ 
tion was available at the time it was made. He distinctly 


avowed his limitations resulting from insufficient data, and 
conscientiously distinguished between fact and fancy. His 
statement concerning the character of the veins under con¬ 
sideration, that they were not ^^true fissure veins,^^ but min 
eralized joints, was interpreted, against his caution, into a 
declaration that there were no ^‘true fissure veins’’ in the 
Cascades. Mr. ^purr’s statement, while guarded, that the 
data at hand indicated, that as the joints were more open 
to the entrance of mineral-bearing solutions, at or near the 
surface, and tighter below, the ore bodies either did, or 
could be expected to ‘^piiicli out” at dejitli. These two 
statements were interpreted to mean that in the Cascades 
the veins and the ores ^hlid not go doivii.” He stated his 
opinion to be that the ores vrere the result of deposition 
from descending waters. None of these statements nor the 
interpretation placed upon them, would have been remem¬ 
bered but for the fact that the ^Foute Cristo district, for 
whatever cause, seemed to belie the name. Not unnatur¬ 


ally, it was taken as a type and sample of tlie whole Cas¬ 
cade range, and its ap])arent failure was regarded as a dem¬ 
onstration of the valuelessness in a mineral way ofthewhole 
state of Washington, althougli tlie district was and is pe¬ 
culiar here, as it is peculiar in the rest of the United States, 
for the largest element of value in the ores is arsenic. 

The failure in the past at Monte Cristo is claimed, wdth 
good evidence, to be due to high freight and treatment 
charges, to excessively wasteful methods of mining, of 
transporting the ores from mine to concentrator and rail¬ 
road, and of concentration, aiifi the failure of the mine own¬ 
ers to receive anv return Avhatever for the arsenic, AAdiich 
Avas the chief Auilue in the ore. It is only fair to state that 


prior to 1901 the smelter did not 'save the arsenic, of Avhich 
there Avas, during tlie iieriod Avhen it Avas saved, an average 
value of |9.84 per ton of ore or concentrates, according to 
the United States Geological Survey I'eport. Fairly relia¬ 
ble data giA'e the aAmrage treatment charge before the shut- 
doAvn as 15.00. Freight about ^fl.OO. These figures are for 
independent ship^iers. Some figures given are t2.50 freight 
and 17.00 treatment charge. The gold paid for averaged 
19.50 per ton, leaving some 50 cents margin for mining nnd 
transportation to the railroad. There is evidence that the 
’Monte Cristo Mining Company paid ?1.50 to |1.25 freight 
and a |3.00 smelter charge. The concentrator’s custom 


122 PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 

ciiarge is given as |1.00 a ton. The cost of mining is not 
given. There was a mining company, a tramming eompan}" 
411(1 a concentration company, as I learn on imiuiry, besides 
the railroad company and smelting company. Tlie loss in 
concentration is said to liave been from 25 per cent, to 40 
per cent, and even more. 

In spite of these discouragements, several owners Jiave 
been steadily developing during the last three or four years, 
and the Avorkiugs have attained considerable dejith. In one 
instance, in 1905, they drifted from a crosscut tunnel 400 
feet beloAv the old Avorkings, and 700 feet beloAV the surface, 
encountering an ore body eleven feet Avide of shipping ore. 

Mr. William E. Sutton, formerly superintendent of the 
Monte Cristo mine, Avhose name occurs frequently in Mr. 
Spurr’s report, informs me that in the ‘^Justice,’’ formerly 
knoAvn as the ^^Golden Chord the tunnel is more than 
1,000 feet, is 400 feet lower than the former loAvest 
Avorkings, and is jiractically the same ore that Avas mined 
from the old Monte Cristo, arsenopyrite, the values some- 
Avhat better, and ore bodies about the same size. Another 
company has tAVo miles of underground Avork, one portion 
of which is a crosscut tunnel 1,800 feet long, Avhich inter¬ 
cepts three different A^eins, into Avhich drifts liaA^e been 
driA^en into good ore in large bodies. In another ^^property’’ 
the tunnel is in the vein 1,000 feet beloAV the surface, in ore. 
At the present time there is great activity at Monte Cristo. 
The Wilmans, the original discoverers and deA^eloj^ers of 
this camp, are in ore 1,000 feet below .the surface and 1,000 
feet in, with the pay streak Avider than it Avas at the surface 
and the Amines higher. They are noAV actiAmly at Avork, as 
are also others, preparing for ore shipments, on a large 
scale. The great, old, rotten concentrator that has been 
idle for years, and other\equipnient, are being replaced and- 
renovated. Everybody is at Avork, both in jireparation and 
in getting out ore. The cause of the activity, from reliable 
information on the ground, is that a contract or arrange¬ 
ment has been made or is about to be made Avith the smelter 
to treat the ore at f5.00, smelter to pay freight, and the 
smelter to pay |14.00 for the arsenic in the average ore, 
Avhich, added to the |9.50 in gold, makes |23.50, less 85.00 
total charge, or |18.50 for the same ore Avhich returned only 
50 cents margin out of which to pay mining and transpor¬ 
tation to the railroad. 

The Avriter is reliably informed that competent engi¬ 
neers insist that the great concentrator was built wrong 
end up and had other serious, if not fatal, defects, some of 



COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 


123 


them common to early concentrating machinery. Power 
was furnished at large expense of fuel, with abundant 
water power close at liand. ‘ Tt must be remembered that 
these ore bodies were not on the large scale of copper mines 
and that the ores are low grade, especially when leaving out 
arsenic, and require economical methods to get a margin of 
profit. It is hard to understand why such tremendous ex¬ 
penditures on the railroad (nearly 14,000,000) and on the 
plant were made for so comparatively small a mine; and 
why, obviously wasteful methods were continued for so 
long a time and why they were not changed and why the 
shut-down to stop losses did not occur many years sooner. 

Mr. Sam Silverman, well-known miner and smelter- 
man of southeast Alaska, has recently taken hold of the 
Pride, ^lystery and Golden Chord with the Wilmans broth¬ 
ers, after tliorough examination by himself and a number 
of mining and metallurgical engineers. Everything is be¬ 
ing changed, new methods being adopted, water power to 
be used, and an arsenic plant to be erected unless the 
smelter pays for the arsenic, which is said to be worth |15.00 
per ton of ore, on account of tlie present high price of that 
metal. Mr. Silverman is in the active management. 

After the notable failure of the Pride of the Mountains 
and the Mystery under the old ownership, tlie re-purchase 
and continued operations by the Wilmans brothers, and the 
investment and active taking hold by Mr. Sam Silverman, a 
practical, capable man, well aware of the history of Monte 
Cristo, with all the signs of failure written large all over 
the camp when he made his examination with other compe¬ 
tent men, are significant, and the outcome will be watched 
with interest. 

Not doubting ^Ir. Spurr’s conclusion that there are no 
^drue fissure veins’^ at Monte Cristo, only mineralized 
joints, which seem, however, to answer the purpose of con¬ 
taining ore bodies fairly well, it is not proper to assume, nor 
does Mr. Spurr state that there are no true fissures in the 
Cascades. 

Mr. Spurr mentions the absence of hot and of other as¬ 
cending springs as indicating that ore deposition must 
have resulted from descending waters. 

In the copper region mentioned, which lies westerly 
from Monte Cristo, there are hot springs at Madison, Hot 
Springs, in King county, about six miles west of the Cas¬ 
cade tunnel on the Great Northern railway; at Green Kiver 
Hot Springs, King county, twelve miles west of Stampede 
tunnel mn the Northern Pacific railway; and hot springs 


124 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN ' MINING CONGRESS. 


near the lieadwaters of the Sno(|iialniie and at the head of 
Foss river in King county, Copper lake is much warmer than 
its neighbors, apparently oAving to hot springs beneath. 
Near Berlin, on the Great Northern railway, in King 
county, there is a locally noted soda sjiring, and on the 
noidh fork of the Skykomish river, above Galena, in Snoho¬ 
mish county, are important mineral springs, and near 
Mount St. Helena, in CoAvlitz comity, near Skamania 
county, are strong soda springs. 

As the character of the A^eins is important, I may be 
pardoned for illustrating the fa(d that there are true fis¬ 
sures, or as Mr. Spurr designates them in the report, ^^true 
fissure A^eins,^^ in abundance, in the Cascades, as Avell as 
elseAvhere in*the state of Washington. The Apex mine, in 
King county, on Money creek, has about 5,000 feet of de- 
A elopnient, as I am mformed by Mr. Abner Giffin, presi¬ 
dent of the OAvning corporation. The ore is arsenopyrite, 
the same as that of Monte Cristo, carrying from |35.00 to 
$50.00, chiefl}^ in gold and silver, not alloAving for arsenic. 
Tdie No. 5 tunnel is the fifth bwel and giA^es 2,500 feet of 
back above it. No. 4 is about 2,000 feet in and above 1,000 
feet perpendicular. The ore at this point is the same in 
quality and much greater in quantity than 700 feet higher 
up. The A^ein is four feet Avide at surface, Avith 8-inch pay 
streak of $35 to $50 ore. Various levels have been run on 
this vein, Avhich is throughout of the same Avidth, Avith clean 
granite Avails, the pay streak increasing Avith depth until 
on the loAvest level it is about twenty inches Avith the same 
Amines. This is a shipping and paying mine and is noAV 
building six miles of narroAv gauge railroad to reach the 
Great Northern. 

The Copper Bell lode, in Snohomish county, fiAm miles 
from Index, is a true fissure. Mr. V. V. Clark, manager, 
reports that the Avails are hornblende-biotite granite, the 
Amin is ten to twelve feet Avide. That a level has been run 
2.650 feet in the Amin to a point which is 1,450 feet beloAV the 
surface, the Amin continuing to be of the same Avidth, except 
that Avhere the ore chutes or pipes occur, the mineralization 
reaches into the Avails, making one ore clnite 65x35 feet. 

The Bonanza Queen, at Silverton, Snohomish county, 
is sixty feet wide at the surface. A crosscut tunnel 1,090 
feet long cuts the vein Amrtically 1,000 feet beloAV. At this 
point the vein, with Avell-defined Avails, is 134 feet Avide. On 
the surface from the highest point,'3,600 feet above sea kwel 
to the loAvest point, 2,100 feet above sea leAml, along the vein, 
a glacial stream has Avashed a deep gorge, exjiosing the 


COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 


125 


walls and the vein contents, on one side of the ridge for a 
distance of 4,000 feet. On the other side of the ridge, for 
3,000 feet, the vein is exposed at niimerons points, and the 
tunnel has cut it in the middle of the hill as stated. 

These are the typical veins of this region, not the Monte 
Cristo joints. 

There is more being done now in the state of Wasiiing- 
ton, in the mining way, than ever before and notliing is be¬ 
ing said about it. The time and limits of this paper will not 
permit more than mention of gold camps in the Slate Creek, 
Mount Ihiker and Blewett districts, where, in several well 
marked instances, active production is going on and the out¬ 
look is very promising. 

Tlie quiet, steady work mentioned is bringing very close 
to the point of production, a very considerable number of 
extremely desirable copjmr dejiosits which will soon take 
on the maturer and more attractive title of mines. 

Some dozen or more are actually mined now, having 
large ore bodies developed, ^‘ore in sight,’^ and require only 
equipment or transportation, which in a number of in¬ 
stances, are being supplied. In one instance a railroad 
twenty-five miles long is being constructed in a precipitous 
mountain region by tlie company owning the mine, sixteen 
miles of the mountain end of the grade being completed. 
A large amount of development work has been done in this 
case, inanv hundreds of feet of it, all in ore. The railroad^s 
first use will be to take in a plant to treat the ore. Only 
assured large bodies of paying ore would justify such expen¬ 
ditures. 

In the absence of excitement, and when capital is so 
much engaged elsewhere, it is obvious that only those hav¬ 
ing undoubted merit Avill be developed and equipped. The 
region indicated above should properly be extended so as to 
include the many large copper deposits partly developed in 
Chelan, Okanogan, Ferry and Stevens counties and in Ska¬ 
mania and Lewis counties. In fact, the Washington copper 
deposits blend, by the course indicated, into those of the 
boundary districts of British Columbia, where the Granby 
and others are now producing copper so abundantly. The 
difference, where there is a difference, is that the natural 
showing and. development, considerable in several in¬ 
stances, justify the statement that the higher grade copper 
deposits are those of the Central Cascade portion of the 
copper belt. 

An important feature in the ope^ ation of the mines will 
be the water power of this region Prof. Henry Landes, 


126 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


^rate geologist of Wasliington, has stated that the water 
power in the Cascades is unique. every atom of fuel, 
coal or wood, were removed, every wheel that could possibly 
ever be needed, whether for transportation, agriculture, 
manufacture or mine, in this whole region, could be turned 
b}^ water, with an abundance to spare^’’ 

In mining, fuel is one of the most important items of 
cost. The absolute elimination of this expense means a ma¬ 
terial lessening of the cost of mine products, bringing very 
loAv arade ores into the horizon of commercial value and in- 
creasing the profits of high grade. 

The abundance of timber for all purposes, the position 
of the ores admitting operation for a long time, by tunnel, 
and the ever present water power combine to make ideal, 
economic conditions. 

The copper belt, first mentioned, begins among the 
lieadwaters of the Foss river, which flows north; of the 
Snoqualmie, which flows southwest; and the Cle Elum, flow¬ 
ing southeast, about latitude 47 degrees, 30 minutes, and 
longitude 121 degrees, 15 minutes. The belt extends 
through ]the adjoining portion of King county, north-north¬ 
westerly, into and through Snohomish county, and seems 
to be a part of a belt or trend which appears on the coast 
and in the Islands of British Columbia, in Prince of Wales 
and other islands of southeastern Alaska and on Copper 
river, Alaska. South of this belt, in the Cascades, in Wash¬ 
ington, is a known copper region which I will describe later. 
It is obviously impossible to do more in this paper than to 
take up, very briefly, a few typical copper deposits in the 
state of Washington; in no case reflecting upon those not 
selected. I may remark that in general the region is char¬ 
acterized by strong, wide veins, usually in granite, occasion¬ 
ally in diorite or slate-diorite contact, with abundance of 
igneous dikes both acid and basic. In the southeast portion 
of the belt, in King county, the Coast range is from 3,000 
feet to 6,000 feet in height and the summits have been swept 
clean by glaciers, in former times. The structure and vein 
systems exposed, at one point, on the surface may often be 
traced with accuracy long distances. (Milnor Koberts.) In 
Snohomish county the belt is in the lower hills of the Cas¬ 
cades, where heavy forests cover the plateaus, slopes and 
valleys, and only occasionally are veins easily traced, with¬ 
out work. There are, however, many instances of veins 
made plainly visible by erosion. 

It has been difficult to secure accurate data, in some 
instances, but the writer has taken pains to avoid error, as 


COPPER DEPOSITS OP WASHINGTON. 127 

far as possible, and made use of no information not entirely 
reliable. 

1 shall now take up a few types for, as stated, it is not 
within the purpose or scope of this paper to make a cata¬ 
logue of the copper deposits of Washington, but merely to 
call attention to their existence. 

1 shall begin with the first one I became acquainted 
■ with, after a difiicult climb over a glacier. On the high di¬ 
vide between the east fork of the Foss river and the middle 
fork of the Snoqualine, at an elevation of 5,800 feet above 
sea level, in a hornblende-biotite-granite country, the fiat 
surface of an ore shoot on the Dutch Miller shows as plainly 
as a strip of carpet, 1.8 feet wide and about 175 feet long, 
12 feet of the width is a solid chalcopyrite, somewhat mixed 
with hematite and slight quantities of zinc. The other six 
feet is composed of about half and half chalcopyrite and 
quartz. Evidently part of the original vein above the pres¬ 
ent surface had been carried into the canon below by glacial 
action. Several thousand tons of this ore lias since been 
mined and is now awaiting transportation facilities, which 
are being supplied by a railroad, for six and one-half miles 
of wliich the grade has been completed through a rough val¬ 
ley, and an aerial train of five and one-half miles, the con¬ 
tract for which has been let as I have been informed bv a 

c/ 

representative of the Trenton Iron Company. 

Mr. 0. E. Crane writes mo that a careful sampling of 
all the ore taken out (several thousand tons) gives 16 per 
cent, copper, 8 ounces silver, trace of gold, 28 per cent, iron, 
28 per cent, sulphur, 3 per ceni. zinc, and I believe it from 
' considerable knowledge of the ores. The open-cut and shaft 
work done in taking out this ore shows the vein to have well- 
defined walls of granite. The bottom of the shaft, some 
sixt}^ feet deep, is in ore. At points along the surface of 
these veins, where the erosion has not removed the capping, 
is oxidized iron ore mingled with hornblende and quartz. 
The vein can be traced by the iron stain until it disappears 
under a glacier. 

About 6,000 feet from the ore shoot described, following 
the gossan, an opening on the Lncky Boy has been made 
through the thin cap, disclosing chalcopyrite ore, in a vein 
of about the same width. No great amount of work has 
been done here, the object' being to prospect, not to operate, 
at this point. This is all in an exceedingly rough and pre¬ 
cipitous region. About two miles further in the same gen¬ 
eral direction, northwest, the Pedro ledge is stated to be 
more than 100 feet wide and the showing is said by Mr. C. E. 
Blodgett of Seattle to be greater than that of the Dutch 


128 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Miller, walls of the same granite, iron capping with quartz 
pockets which are lined with crystals of quartz and iron 
cubes. The ore is chalcopyrite and boruite containing gray 
copper, gold and silver, with some bismuth and antimony, 
assays shoiv high values in gold, silver and copper. This 
ledge can be traced more than two miles and leads to the 
Copper Chief and Eureka veins and others of the Foss river 
group. At the head of the west fork of Foss river the Cop¬ 
per Chief is by measnrenient 189 feet wide at the Malachite 
lake end and still wider on the Miller river end, where it is 
covered by talus, being plainly traceable for more than 
4,000 feet. It has the same iron cap, hematite, limonite, 
hornblende and quartz, which has been penetrated at va¬ 
rious points, disclosing remarkably pure boruite with gold 
and silver values, ranging from 3 per cent, to 54 per cent, 
copper, gold from trace to half ounce, silver 2 to 46 ounces. 
The Eureka vein is from 50 to 100 feet wide, of like charac¬ 
ter, nearly parallel to the larger vein, as are four others 
ranging from 10 to 20 feet in width, and more than 2,000 
feet in length, passing over a high ridge. Here on Foss 
river development now takes the form of a tunnel to cross¬ 
cut all of the veins of the group at an average depth of 1,000 
feet. Chalcopyrite of a very high grade has been llnco^ered 
in several of these parallel veins. This group will be sup¬ 
plied with transportation by the railroad to the Dutch 


Miller. To the south of the Dutch Miller vein, hrst men¬ 
tioned, in the Clipper group, the veins are larger and are in 
the same granite. One tunnel 200 feet on the vein is all in 
ore, one 750- foot crosscut tunnel is in ore at the breast. 
From what are described as ore bodies containing more 
than a million tons, general sample assays of different levels 
are stated to show 3-| per cent, to 10 per cent, copper, about 
2.4 ounces silver, 2-100 gold. It is to this property that the 
twenty-five miles of mountain railroad is being actually 
constructed. 

Ten miles north of Mount St. Helens, on the north fork 
of the Toiitle river, on the line of Skamania and Cowlitz 
counties, the Polar Star, as reported by Mr. E. A. Sessions 
of Portland, has a tunnel on the vein -TOO feet, all in ore, 
after passing through 100 feet of iron sulphide capping, 
countr}^ rock, horublende-biotite-granite. Gaiigue iron sul¬ 
phide in an altered granite. A crosscut of 69 feet, 600 feet 
from the tunnel mouth, shows 18 feet above 10 per cent, cop¬ 
per, 15 feet above 15 per cent, copper, with |5.00 gold, 16 
ounces silver, and 36 feet average 3 per cent, copper, with 
|3.00 gold and 10 ounces silver. This is one of several veins, 


COPPER DEPOSITS OP WASHINGTON. 


129 


one other being equal to it. This is tAventy-five miles from 
the railroad. The Tacoma & Tlastern, noA\^ being built, aauII 
come within five miles of it. 

Mr. Sessions states that the Sweden and Norvvay, 
nearby, has a tunnel 2,300 feet on the vein, in ore all the 
Avay, after 150 feet of iron sulphide capping. Chalcopyrite 
ore in crosscut of 23 feet sIioavs 7 per cent, to 10 per cent, 
copper with gold and silver similar to the last described. 
There are others in the district. These are the best de¬ 
veloped. 

A^he Sunset in Snohomish countv, north-northAvest of 
the Foss river group, is in the same granite Avails, has three 
leA^els at about 100 feet, 200 feet and 300 feet depths, Avhich, 
Avith upraises, expose, according to the report of Mr. W. E. 
Sutton, former superintendent of the Monte Cristo mines, 
and mentioned repeatedly by Mr. J. E. Spurr, in the Geolog¬ 
ical Keport mentioned aboA^e, one ore body of 60,000 tons 
of bornite and chalcopyrite, sampled by him' at |12.00 per 
ton Avhen copper was at 13 cents, and another ore body of 
40,000 tons Avith |15.00, at same price of copper. Sample 
assays given in report (1) average across IT feet of vein in 
adit crosscut 4-100 ounces gold, 1 ounce silver, 5.7 per cent, 
copper; (2) average in vein 14 feet Avide, 50 feet long, adit 
crosscut, 9-10 per cent, silver, 7-10 per cent, copper; (3) sam¬ 
ple of ore taken from floor of stope, old Avorkings (above), 
22 3-10 per cent, copper. 

The Bonanza Queen lias been partially described ear¬ 
lier in this paper. A tunnel 1,090 feet long has caught the 
vein 1,000 feet below the surface and Avith upraises and 
levels, together Avith the natural outcrop, open cuts and 
quarry work, tAvo principal ore bodies are said to be exposed. 
One is stated to be 500 feet long, 15 feet Avide and 1,000 feet 
deep. The gangue is pyrrhotite and pyrite. The best that 
could be done under the circumstances to get at the values 
gives from 2 per cent, to 3 per cent, copper, |1.00 gold, and 
5 ounces silver. The other ore body is said to be, measuring 
in the same crude way, 400 feet long, 200 feet deep or high, 
69 feet in Avidth—is a hard pyrite somewhat lower in grade 
of copper and higher in gold and silver than the last named, 
the silver increasing sometimes to 11 ounces at greatest 
depth. Sylvanite occurs frequently along one wall. 

This property is reported as shipping three carloads a 
week to the Tacoma smelter; net, per ton, after paying 
transportation and treatment charges, is stated to be from 
18.50 to 123.00. 



130 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


The surface ores are being handled by quarry method. 

There is lime enough in connection with a part of these 
ores, according to Mr. Herbert Lang of San Francisco, to 
make only 4 per cent, to 5 per cent, coke necessary to reduc^ 
tion. 

I must pass by many that deserve description here and 
shall briefly describe three groups lying beween the section 
containing the foregoing and the Boundary district, British 
Columbia. 

The Belcher mine, about twelve miles northeast of Be- 
public and six miles from Washington & Great Nortliern 
railway, is reported to have 3,400 feet of tunnel and winze. 

Depth of vein, 385 feet. 

Width of vein 80 feet, all ore. 

Width of small vein, 28 feet, all ore. 

Ore is pyrite (gold bearing) to depth of 1,808 feet below 
which it changes to chalcopyrite carrying 4 per cent, copper, 
with 30 to 50 per cent, excess of iron over the silica, which 
varies from 3 per cent, to 10 per cent, silica. 

Much of their ore runs $12.00 gold and |8.00 copper, 
with no silver. The smelters pay a premium on this ore 
for all excess of iron over silica. 

Their railroad to the Great Northern branch will be 
completed this week, a distance of nine miles, when they ex¬ 
pect to begin shipments of 30(» tons per day. Capacity of 
railroad is 1,000 tons per day. 

mine is about midway between Conconnully and 
Loomis on an ore zone which is traced for several miles. 

It is an immense low grade sulphide copper ore in dio- 
rite, with iron, but very little gold or silver. The ore zone 
on the Q. S. is now said to be 1,000 feet wide. Only one 
wall has been found which is granite. Near the surface the 
ore is silicious, but lower the silica is replaced, to a degree, 
by copper and there is an excess of iron over silica. 

They strike small lenses of good grade, but as yet no 
very large lense of suflicient grade to ox)erate alone. In 
lower levels they expect higher grade. 

They have a tunnel in 1,000 feet, giving a depth of 
1,000 feet, and will run another, giving an additional 1,000 
feet. Much of their ore now is better tlian the Granby ore. 

C 0 ' 7 wer eWorld Extension. 

t 

On Palmer mountain, near Loomis, at a depth of 200 
feet, they have 20 feet of ore running 48 per eent. iron, 4 per 
cent copper, 0 per cent, silica. The Granby smelter pays 
them a bonus of |1.40 per ton for this ore. In addition to 


COPPER DEPOSITS OF WASHINGTON. 1^1 

i-bove, ibey have a large amount of ore running per cent, 
copper. 

This very inadequate description certainly indicates 
the presence of copper deposits, of magnitude and value, 
which the owners feel that they have been justified in de¬ 
veloping. at, hoAvever, great effort, and from which they 
expect, with confidence, to reap the reward for their sacri¬ 
fice, their pluck and their faith 


Recent Litigation Involving Questions of Alleged Damage 
from Tailings, Tailings Waters and Smelter Fumes. 


• BY. PROF. F. W. TRAPHAGEN. 

Two of the most important cases in the history of liti¬ 
gation between the agricultural and mining interests of 
our country have recently come up for hearing before the 
United States court in the state of Montana. 

Tlie suits are: That brought by Hugh Magone against 
the Colorado Smelting and Mining Company and others 
(the ^^others'^ being the Colusa-Parrot Mining and Smelting 
Company, the Butte and Boston Consolidated Mining Com¬ 
pany, the Parrot Silver and Copper Company, the Montana 
Ore Purchasing Company, and the Anaconda Copper Min¬ 
ing Company); the other suit, now pending, was brought 
by Fred J. Bliss against the Anaconda Copper Mining Com¬ 
pany and the Washoe Copper Mining Company. 

As the principles involved are so different, it will be 
best to consider each of these suits separately. 

The Magone suit was brought against the allied com¬ 
panies for alleged damage to land and crops through the 
action of tailings and tailings waters, and damages were 
asked in the sum of twenty thousand dollars (|20,000), to¬ 
gether with a prayer for a permanent injunction against 
the operations of all the smelters. This suit is especially 
interesting as one in which old time enemies were co-de¬ 
fendants, and when the Clark interests, the Heinze interests 
and the Amalgamated interests were all harmonionsly 
working together toward a common end. 

The plaintiff claimed, in this suit, that not only were his 
crops and land destroyed, but his sheep, of which he had a 
considerable number, were poisoned by the tailings waters. 
Numerous experts were called upon for analyses of the 
water—that of Silver Bow creek, which flows through Butte 
and Avhich carries a large portion of slimes from the con¬ 
centrators. 

Analyses were made, also, of the various dumps of 
mines and smelters, and the attempt was made to show Hiat 
the cause of the alleged damage was readily accounted for 
bv the chemical analvses of the water and the tailings. 

The defense was based on the fact that the water car¬ 
ried bare traces of possible poisonous salts in solution, and 





133 




LITIGATION INVOLVING QUESTIONS OP DAMAGE. 

(liat more particularly, the cause for lessened crops could 
be found in the character of the soil, wliich was shown to be 
a black alkali with considerable ivliite alkali present.* In 
addition to this it was shown that the land was not prop¬ 
erly farmed and had not been put iu condition for proper 
irrigation. 

An interesting phase of this case was the discussion 
arising from the claim of the defense that even were cop¬ 
per sulphate present in the irrigation water, it Avould be at 
once rendered insoluble by reaction Avith the sodinm car¬ 
bonate of the black alkali soil. The experts for the j:)laintiff 
maintained that, inasmuch as copper sulphate was soluble 
in excess of sodium carbonate, the copper Avould redissoh^e 
and become actiA^e again. Actual tests upon this point, us¬ 
ing the Magone ranch soil, shoAved that copper Avas ren¬ 
dered insoluble in the soil in question and that it did not 
redissolve. 

When it is remembered that only soluble compounds 
act upon plant life, and that excess of copper in solution is 
conceded to be poisonous to plants, the importance of this 
point Avill be appreciated. 

The defense also brought in photographs illustrating 
many experiments AAuth soluble copper, zinc, arsenic, anti¬ 
mony and other salts to determine their effects upon plants 
groAvn in typical arid soils. These results Avere very strik¬ 
ing in many respects, it being shoAvn that amounts in excess 
of those shoAvn to be present in any of the irrigation Avaters 
of the state, AA^ere Avitliout harmful effects upon plant life. 

Of the fiA^e experts employed by the plaintiff, not one 
appeared in person before the master hearing the (*ase, but 
all submitted their* testimony by deposition, Avhi(*h, of 
course, made satisfactory cross-examination impossible. 

After a hearing lasting about six mouths, the master- 

in-chancerA^ took the case under adAisement and some 
0 ■ 

months later announced his findings. 

The injunction asked for Avas refused on the principle 
of the ‘^greatest good to the greatest number,” but damages 
were assessed against the iixe defendants in the total sum 
of about seAenteen hundred dollars (fl,7b0). As no one of 
the defendants AA^as assessed as much as fiA^e hundred dol¬ 
lars (f500), it is probable that each side aauII haA^e to pay 
its own costs, Avhich, as can be easily seen, Avill be consid¬ 
erable. 

The judge has not yet announced his decision, but it 
is generailv believed.that he Avill endorse the action of the 
master, 


# 


134 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS, 


Tlie Bliss suit, or as it is more commonly known, the 
‘‘Smoke’’ suit, is, I think, one of the most extensive suits, 
from many points of view, tliat has ever been heard. 

l\unnim»‘ continuouslv, witli but two sliort intermis- 
sions, since the 25th day of January, there liave already 
been placed in the record about sixteen thousand pages of 
transcript; and this is being added to at the rate of about 
seven hundred pages a week, with probably twelve more 
weeks still to follow. 

This suit is radically different from previous suits 
heard in Montana in that it inimlves only the question of 
smelter fumes and does not touch upon the effect of tailings 
or tailings waters. The suit is brought for a perpetual in¬ 
junction, and, while conducted in the name of Fred J. Bliss, 
a non-resident land holder, is really being conducted and 
supported by a farmers’ association consisting of one liun- 
dred and seven Deer Lodge Valley farmers, who have agreed 
to levies based upon the assessed value of their property for 
the supplies of the “sinews of war” to carry on the suit. 

These farmers in an official letter to defendants, placed 
their total damages at about two million three hundred 
thousand dollars and this amount was scaled down by one 
of their committees to one and three-quarter million dol¬ 
lars. This involved title to the damaged property passing 
to the defendants and it was further stipulated that some 
of the property might be repurchased by the farmers. 

The Anaconda Copper Mining Company pays more 
than 50 per cent, of the taxes of Deer Lodge county in 
which the smelter is located. This company and its asso¬ 
ciates bear about one-third of the taxes of Silver Bow 
county, in which the mines are located, and are the principal 
taxpayers in nearly all the other counties of the state, 
where lumbering, coal mining and coking, and other inter¬ 
ests connected with mining and smelting are involved. To 
sav that the welfare of the whole state of Montana was in- 
timately associated with the prosperity of this company 
would be but stating the simple truth. In the testimony of 
the general manager of the smelter, Mr. E. P. Mathewson, 
the folloAving figures were given: • 

The output in copper, silver and gold was 



Copper, 

.Silver, 

Gold, 

In 

Lbs. 

Oz. 

Oz. 

1902 . 

. 82,992,361 

3,368,133 

15,027 

1903 . 

. 109,726,420 

5,190,879 

31,183 

1904 .. 

. 138,078,499 

6,481,318 

46,344 

1905 . 

. 165,505,144 

7,046,485 

49,685 

1906 (first six months). 

. 94,244,911 

3,811,735 

22,567 









LITIGATION INVOLVING QUESTIONS OF DAMAGE 135 

I 

The smelter employs 2,100 men, and there has been 
spent $7,007,324 for labor, $4,393,455 for coal, $4,012,000 for 
coke, $740,047 for lime rock, $1,316,020 for machinery, $53,- 
896 for lumber and $1,480,813 for freight. About nine thou¬ 
sand tons of ore are treated daily, and the monthly output 
of copper is close to 17,000,000 pounds. 

That the situation may be better understood, it is nec¬ 
essary to refer to conditions some three years^ ago, just 
after the new smelter began operations. Individual stacks 
were provided for each of the different units of the great 
plant, so that, instead of the one great stack which, at pres- 
' ent, handles all the smoke, there w^ere separate stacks for 
the blast furnaces, for the reverberatories, for the conver¬ 
ters and for the roasting furnaces. 

These stacks were placed at the various buildings and 
Avere about tivo hundred and twenty feet high, and there 
Avas provided, in addition, about the usual amount of dust 
chamber space. . 5 

Shortly after smelting began, complaints were made 
by farmers on all sides that their crops were being de¬ 
stroyed and their liA^estock poisoned by the fumes from the 
stacks. After an iuA^estigation by the company, most of 
these claims were settled, some three hundred and forty 
thousand dollars being paid. The plant was shut down and 
the erection of the present great stack and system of flues 
was begun. 

The reverberatory flues have an extreme length of about 
three-quarters of a mile, the main flues being sixty by 
twenty feet in cross section and for a considerable distance 
before the base of the stack is reached the flues are double, 
giving a section of one hundred tAventy feet by twenty. 

The stack, which is on a hill, is over three hundred feet 
high and has an inside diameter of thirty-one and one-third 
feet, delivering its product at a point fully one thousand feet 
above the valley. This stack and the flues cost about three 
quarters of a million dollars, and, together Avith the former 
stacks, which were torn down a year ago, and which cost 
OA^er a hundred thousand dollars, and the claims already 
settled, make a very ^ffidy” contribution to ^^smoke.’’ 

The plaintiff has claimed general destruction and dev¬ 
astation in the valley, invohing the killing of the crops by 
the acid gases, the poisoning of tlie soil and the death of 
animals from eating the alleged poisoned forage. 

The defense secured a corps of experts, each one an 
authority in his line, and had a most thorough investigation 
made of the whole subject. Botanists studied the flora in 


136 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


the Deer Lodge Valley said to be injured by the smoke, made 
critical studies of the exhibits of the botanists for the plain¬ 
tiff, and then, by collections made in districts remote from 
smelters were able to demonstrate that injuries alleged to 
arise from smoke were due to other causes; these injuries, 
not only being shown to be similar, but the actual causes 
have been proven by resort to the microscope. 

A plant pathologist spent weeks in the valley and was 
able to demonstrate that the injury to the crops generally 
was due to causes operative everywhere. 

Toxicologists have spent months examining viscera 
from Deer Lodge Valley animals, said to have been poisoned 
by the arsenic from the smelter, and of animals from other 
places. 

Veterinarians have made most extensive inquiries into 
the alleged arsenical poisonings and also into all the dis¬ 
eases occurring in this region. 

The best comparative anatomists and bacteriologists in 
the world have been actively engaged in a study of the prob* 
lem, and special laboratories have been equipped at great 
expense, to make the investigation as complete as possible. 

All the important literature on the subject has been 
carefully scanned for information on the various phases of 
the subject, and in many cases, complete translations have 
been made from foreign books dealing with this problem. 

Every facility has been afforded for a complete study of 
the subject, animals by the hundred have been purchased 
for various experiments and feeding tests, and several hun¬ 
dred horses and cows have been killed for the purpose of 
post mortem study. 

For its effort to make this defense as complete as pos¬ 
sible, for the lavish expenditure of money to this end; and 
for the thoroughness of the investigation, the mining public 
is greatly indebted to the Anaconda Copper Mining Com¬ 
pany for a magnificent defense which is bound to become 
historic. 

VICE .PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: The paper is now open for dis¬ 
cussion. 

MR. JOHN DERN: When the title of the paper was announced I 
was very much interested, believing that where evils existed, something 
might be suggested which would remedy them. I would like to ask the 
professor if, from his investigation, he has come to the conclusion that 
smelter smoke is not detrimental to vegetation or stock-feeding products 
of the fields adjacent to copper smelters. 

PROFESSOR TRAPHAGEN OF COLORADO: I might say in answer 
to that question that the only damage to vegetation found was where 
the sulphuric acid had coalesced into drops sufficient to fall upon the 
vegetation in a concentrated form. The damage reported by the botanists 


LITIGATION INVOLVING QUESTIONS OF DAMAGE 


137 


and the plant pathologists working on the case—I am at liberty to state 
this now beeaiise they have given their testimony—was found to be 
merely one that might be called an aesthetic damage. The leaves have 
been affected. And that, I want to say, is within two miles of the stack. 
They are spotted, but the growth of trees almost at the base of the 
stack has been exceptionally good, these trees being set out by the Ana¬ 
conda company as an object lesson. Trees set out two years ago have 
gained extremely well in growth. The turnips raised in the held of the 
Anaconda company, in what is called Walker gulch, at the base of the 
stack, were the finest exhibit in the collection of vegetables at the county 
fair; and I am told, further, that the turnips were the best exhibit at 
the state fair, and had the exhibit been made by a private individual in¬ 
stead of a countj^ they would have been given the prize. Now, I do not 
want to say that smelter smoke is good for crops. I will go this far, 
however, and say that smelter smoke is good for black alkali soil, and I 
think I can maintain my point. But certainly the damage to crops in 
Montana has been exceedingly slight. 

Now as to the question of the effect upon animals, the farmers state 
that the flue dust, which, we must confess, contains some arsenic, although 
the company is recovering about five hundred and fifty tons of arsenic a 
year, still some of it gets out of the stack, they claim that flue dust, or 
the arsenic in it, deposited on the plants, poisoned the stock. We have 
taken some of the “smoked” cattle purchased from one of the gentlemen 
who claims to be the worst sufferer, placed the same cattle in the slum 
pond fields, where, in addition to getting the dust from the stack, or the 
himes from the stack, also got the dust from the old works tailings piles 
which carried quite considerable arsenic, and those cattle have made very 
satisfactory gains. There has been no place, I think, in which cattle 
properly fed have suffered—I feel now that I can say what I please about 
this subject because it is not going to become very public—cattle fed 
with hay from these various ranches have never developed chronic ar¬ 
senical poisoning. We have had them carefully watched and studied, 
and the whole work has been gone into most carefully. I can not imagine 
the work to have been done more carefully than it was done. In no case 
has the feeding of those animals developed chronic arsenical poisoning. 
There have been various diseases found in these animals, sudden deaths 
for instance, which have heretofore been attributed to arsenic, but which 
are now known to be due to other causes, and which will be shown to be 
due to other causes, to the satisfaction of everybody—except the plaintiff. 

There was another point I wanted to speak of, too, and that is this— 
that large doses of arsenic have been fed to cattle in the carrying on of 
these experiments, and these large doses—doses that ordinarily I would 
have said before this suit was begun, would have been unquestionably 
poisonous—have not developed chronic symptoms, and after carrying on 
the experiment for forty-five days, we concluded it was pretty hard to 
poison horses and cows, and those cattle and horses were turned out 
onto the various ranches where they would get the smoked hay, and 
after a period—some of them were killed, by the way, some immediately 
afterwards and were shown to be practically normal in every respect— 
and in other cases, after the lapse of perhaps two months’ time, others 
were killed, and one of the points that is taken to indicate arsenical poi¬ 
soning, perhaps to a greater extent than any other, is the evidence of 
fatty degeneration shown by microscopic study, which was shown to be 
almost entirely absent in these cases. Another point I want to mention 
is, I don’t believe there is a single expert employed by the Anaconda 
company that went into the case unprejudiced. If there is, I have not 
found him. And I think I have talked with every man working on the 
case. I know I was prejudiced and every man I have talked to was preju¬ 
diced. They felt that it was only a question of the extent of the damage, 
that there was considerable damage done, that there must be, by that 
great quantity of sulphurous oxide passing out of that stack dailj’-—that, 
of course, there was damage done. Dr. Pearson of Philadelphia was, I 


138 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


think,'one of the most prejudiced of the whole lot, and I know that after 
his investigation he has become one of the most marked partisans of the 
lot, because, ultimately, we are all partisans. 

» 

MR. JOHN BERN OF UTAH: Mr. President, I don’t know what the 
conditions are at Anaconda, but, judging from the remarks referring to 
the paper, it appears to me it has a great deal of similarity to any apex 
.• suit or anything of that sort. The company that has the most money 
and is able to get the best experts and the most testimony in that line 
will get the verdict. 

I do not believe it is contradicted but what smelter smoke has an 
immense influence and does a great deal of damage, and there is no higher 
ideal for our scientific men and there is no better.subject for the School 
of Mines of Colorado, which stands at the very pinnacle in that industry, 
to take up this proposition and analyze it clearly and devise so.me remedy 
for it. We in Salt Lake valley deplore very much that the conditions 
exist as they do. We welcome the smelters, we welcome the enterprise, 
we realize the great benefit the state gets from those very smelters, but 
it is a menace, nevertheless, and does a great deal of damage to the 
valley. Our smelters are making every effort in their power to find a 
remedy to prevent the damage which is being done to the stock, to the 
trees, to the foliage and all vegetation. There is a great deal of damage 
done, which is admitted by the fact that the numerous suits which have 
been brought have all been successful and the smelter companies have 
been compelled to pay damages. One smelter company now realizes this 
condition and is putting its new smelter away out some fifteen or eighteen 
miles from the city, over on the south shore of the lake, away from all 
farming interests, simply because they realize that they must get away 
from a locality which is thickly populated and where there are a great 
deal of crops grown; and as I said before, when the title of the paper 
was announced, I had great hopes that our scientific professor would han¬ 
dle the subject so as to give us some idea as to what steps to take to 
give us the proper relief, and I hope that this matter will be investigated 
by the School of Mines. I think it is a noble object to give the agricul¬ 
tural interests the benefit of their experience. 

SENATOR DE LA VERGNE OF COLORADO: Mr. President, as 
suggested by Mr. Bern, I think the professor has already brought part 
of that solution forward, and I think all the School of Mines would have 
to do—now he has stated that on black alkali soil the smoke is advan¬ 
tageous. Now, all they have got to do is to fix some way in which we can 
put the smoke on the soil and then it will be all right. 

VICE PRESIDENT BUCKLEY: Are there any further remarks? 
This is the first agricultural session we have had. If there are no addi¬ 
tional remarks on this very interesting paper, we will take up the next 
address. 


/ 





Needed Legislation, for the Protection of Forests 


nEWIS E. AUBURY, STATE MINERALOGIST. SAN FRANCISCO, CAL¬ 
IFORNIA. 

That there is urgent need for more national and state 
legislation in regard to the protection of our forested areas, 
both from- fire and the operations of timber speculators, is 
a subject which I believe is worthy the attention of the 
American Mining Congress. 

The general opinion seems to be that the government 
is looking to such protection, and that the individual need 
not concern himself with matters which onr senators and 
representatives are supposed to attend to. Now, I do not 
wish to be understood as criticizing the very efficient work 
of the present Forest Service, nor the able efforts expended 
by Hon. Gifford Pinchot to protect our forests. To Presi¬ 
dent Roosevelt we owe more than to any other chief exec¬ 
utive for the carrying out of beneficent forest reserve poli¬ 
cies, but we must look to the future when we mav not have 
a Roosevelt to direct, nor a Pinchot to carry out a policy 
similar to the present one. 

The miners, as well as every class of citizens, who have 
the welfare of our country at heart, are one and all agreed 
tliat our forests must be protected. No public movement' 
of magnitude has ever taken np the subject of forest protec¬ 
tion as it deserves, and while there may have been a few 
societies interested in a way, passing resolutions, etc., fur¬ 
ther than that the subject has not been pressed. 

Some may say we have our present Forest Reserves, 
and that additional Reserves are being created, and that 
when permanent lines are drawn, defining the Reserves, the 
question Avill be settled. Do not be too certain in that direc¬ 
tion. Let me remind you that timber is becoming scarcer 
year by year, and that the present available supply, even 
including that in pur present Forest Reserves, which up to 
July, 1906, occupied an area of 102,829,877 acres, will con- 
rain only sufficient timber to last for another twenty-five 
years, if the present wasteful methods are continued. Then 
let us consider the number of acres of government timber 
land outside of the Reserves, now open to entry, and which 
also contain marketable timber. Let me assure you that 
this area is very limited. 



140 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Then let us consider the amount of timber land owned 
by corporations and individuals west of the Mississippi 
river. This area is very large, but the number of owners is 
very small. In fact, this large domain, involving millions 
of acres, is owned or controlled by about twenty-five indi¬ 
viduals or corporations, commonly called ^Timber grab¬ 
bers,’’ who appear to have an insatiable appetite for desir¬ 
able timber land, their desires for possession leading them 
to endeavor to secure these lands by hook or crook, and more 
often it is by ^^crook.” 

No one has vet been able to ascertain what the ^^ca- 
pacity” of the timber grabber really is, nor when or where 
his depredations will cease. He never sleeps, and while you 
are congTatulating vourself that the timber you need for 
mining purposes is perfectly safe in the Forest Eeserves, 
and can be drawn on when required, he and his allies are 
at work framing some measure to cut off a slice of the Re¬ 
serves. Now, I do not wish to be classed as an alarmist, 
nor do I wish to have you consider this merely a theory. It 
is a fact that notwithstanding the-policy of the President 
to enlarge our present Forest Reserves for the protection 
of the timber and.the conservation of our water supply, 
that attacks are constantly being made on this policy, and 
efforts are likeAvise put forth from time to time to have 
thrown open to entry (so that they might be located by 
agents of the speculator) lands now in permanent Reserves. 
You might ask: ^tHow could this be accomplished when our 
lands are safeguarded by the agents of the government?” 
Let me again say: ^T^o not be too sure of that.” Were all 
government agents trustworthy, our fears might be quieted, 
but I am sorry to say that such is not the case, and that 
there is often collusion between the timber grabber and 
government officials, as has been demonstrated in the past. 
I might add, also, that in this I speak not from hearsay, but 
from personal knowledge. 

The developments in the Oregon land fraud cases, 
which were made public during the past year, and in which 
government officials, a United States senator, and promi¬ 
nent citizens were convicted of timber land frauds, only go 
to illustrate the fact that there is a great necessity for more 
stringent laws to protect our forovsts. The illegal acts per¬ 
petrated in Oregon are but a speck as compared to those in 
other Pacific coast states, and when the methods adopted by 
some of the holders of these lands to acquire the timber 
thereon are exposed, they will make a startling chapter. 

One of the greatest causes for concern is the fact that 


NEEDED LEGISLATION FOR FORESTS. 


141 


most of the available timber land is in the hands of a few 
individuals or corporations. For instance, in California ap¬ 
proximately one million acres of the best timbered land in 
onr state is controlled by one individual. 

When we consider our timber land laws which appear 
to some as being so carefully drawn that they could not be 
improved upon, how is it possible that such vast areas could 
be acquired honestly? Is it not against public policy that 
such immense holdings, whether acquired legally or not, 
should be allowed to be possessed by any individual or cor¬ 
poration? i 

What will be the position of the miner a few years 
from now when his present available supply of timber shall 
have been exhausted? He will be at the niercv of the tim- 
ber baron, unless there is a convenient Forest Reserve from 
which he can draw. Then how will it be possible for him 
to mine his ore at a profit without a cheap supply of timber 
to draw from? Already timber and lumber prices have be¬ 
gun to advance, and there is no indication that they will 
ever become lower. If this is the case, it behooves not onlv 
the mining, but all other interests as well, to look to the 
future. 

There is a necessity also for extreme watchfulness to 
preserve intact our present permanent and temporary For¬ 
est Reserves against the underhanded methods of the tim¬ 
ber grabber. A new danger confronts us, which merits 
deep consideration. It was thought that the Forest Reserve 
policy would protect all classes within the lines of the Re¬ 
serves, particularly the miner, and that none but a min¬ 
eral entry could be made in the Reserves, but, behold the 
ingenuity of the timber grabber for contriving means to 
accomplish his purpose—he files placer mineral locations. 
This has been done in California in the temporary and per¬ 
manent Reserves, and filings aggregating approximately 
one million acres have already been made on timber lands, 
but a small percentage of which have any evidence of being 
mineral in character. This class of locations is not only 
illegal, but the methods of the individuals making them 
serves to cast an onus on our industry. 

This again brings up the question of an available sup¬ 
ply of timber for the miner. If such placer locations on tim¬ 
ber land in temporary and permanent Forest Reserves are 
legalized, I ask you: Will the miner not be subject to the 
timber baron methods in the Reserves as he is outside of 

them? 

Let us hope that the Forest Service will use its best 



142 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


efforts in protecting us from this new clanger^ and before 
all the vacant lauds now in lieserves shall have been simi¬ 
larly filed upon, that means will be devised to correct this 
evil. There is obviously a great necessity for more stringent 
laws, or of stronger regulations by the Forest Service, relat¬ 
ing to mining locations in the lieserves. 

One of our most serious considerations in the matter 
of forest protection is that of fire, which annually consumes 
more timber than all other causes combined. Some of the 
states have passed laws relating to the punishment of per¬ 
sons setting fires or allowing the same to get beyond con¬ 
trol, but it is quite evident that these laws are not enforced 
or they are not sufficiently stringent to prevent the recur¬ 
rence of the annual fires. 

In my opinion, the attention of the different state Leg¬ 
islatures should be directed to the necessity for the enact¬ 
ment of rigorous laws, or to the enforcement of their pres¬ 
ent.laws concerning the setting of forest fires. 

In considering the various subjects relating to forest 
protection of which I have spoken, if they meet with the ap¬ 
proval of the Mining Congress, I trust that my statements, 
as well as any others which may be suggested looking 
towards the improvement of conditions which will benefit 
the miner, will be so firmly placed before the state and.gov¬ 
ernment officials that proper legislation and regulations 
will be enacted. Otherwise, if we procrastinate, and are 
not granted fuller protection, some day we will awaken to 
the fact that we are endeavoring to run our quartz mills 
with an empty ore bin. 



Alaska and Its Possibilities 


BY J. T. CORNFORTH, 

f 

Early History of Alaska. 

It was Humboldt’s primary theor^^ that the great gold 
belt extended from the Arctic oceau in the Eockies to Gape 
Horn, and because of the peculiar formation, he held that 
the Far North contained by far the greater part of the pre¬ 
cious metals. 

In 1889 Prof. T. C. Mendenhall, of the United States 
Geodetic and-Coast Survey Department, w^ent further and 
undeidook, in a report of an actual survey made by him, to 
trace Hie gold through the Alaska peninsula. He picked it 
up in the foothills of the Eockies, at a point 100 miles back 
of Nome, followed it to the headwaters of the Koyukuk and 
Porcupine rivers; thence along the western slope of the 
Eockies at the exact point of the source of the Klondike 
river. 

In 1832 the first gold was discovered in Alaska on the 
Anauk river, a tributary of the Kuskokwim, Avhich joins the 
latter stream about twenty-five miles below Kalmakofsky, 
according to the Ketchikan Alaska Mining Journal, by Ivan 
Simensan Lukeen, at which time he built Fort Lukeen, a 
trading post of the Eussian American Trading Company. 
Lukeen was born of Eussian and Spanish-American Creole 
parents in the.Eoss colony in California. He was well edu¬ 
cated and proved to be an active, energetic and intelligent 
officer. 

. At the time of the discovery of gold in the Klondike, 
but little or nothing was known by the world of the exist- 
enc of such a rich mineral country, so the opening of Alaska 
dates from 1897. 

Placer Gold. 

The production of gold increases each season. The 
scarcity of water is the greatest drawback, the numerous 
ditches now finished in the Seward peninsula ^^costing many 
millions of dollars,’^ will double the present output of the 
yellow metal next year. The Tanana district stands at the 
front this season, with a production of over eight million 
dollars. 

The Malchatna and Koyukuk country will be the next 
district to be heard from. 



144 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Quartz mining is not attracting the prospector at this 
time, for placer grounds are so numerous, and briug the 
ready cash in the shortest space of time. The one quartz 
mine with a stamp mill is the Hurrah, located on the Seward 
Peninsula. . Its output is from $300,000 to $400,000 an 
nually. This is the only mill in operation in the North. 
Numerous ones are in southeastern Alaska, but this article 
does not cover or ’refer to that section. Southeastern Alaska 
is a territory in and of itself, and the value of its,rich mines 
are well known. 

Many believe that we have nothing but placer gold in 
the North. Hundreds of prospects of gold quartz veins have 
been found running from two to fifty feet in width, and car¬ 
rying from a trace to hundreds of dollars a ton in gold. 

We have many other metals in commercial quantity, 
but few people appreciate the richness of Alaska, conse¬ 
quently cannot understand its importance. Space will not 
permit to go into any lengthy description of the new dis¬ 
coveries universally distributed all over the territory. For 
instance, hematite and chrome iron ores on the Kenai pen¬ 
insula and Clark Lakes district, bismuth north of Nome, 
natural gas and petroleum on the Seward peninsula, native 
silver and galena in the Golovin Bay district, tin from Cape 
Prince of Wales to the eastward for nearly two hundred 
miles, gives hope of furnishing the United States’ future 
supply; anthracite and bituminous coal in the Controller 
Bay i^egion, near the mouth of Copper river, which com¬ 
pares with Pennsylvania and West Virginia coal. 

Minerals. 

The copper districts continue to make a splendid show¬ 
ing. The Alaska Iliamna Copper Company has opened a 
nine-foot vein of ore. The Millet property, near Iliamna 
lake, a twelve-foot vein of ore; the Copper River country 
fully establishes past statements that it is rich in copper 
ores. All that is now needed is transportation to bring the 
ore to tide water. The copper mines at La Touche Island, 
Land Locked Bay and Ellemar mines in Virgin Bay, all in 
Prince William Sountd, are now shipping ore to the Tacoma 
smelter. 

The Lead-Silver property, near Council City, com¬ 
menced shipping this season. 

s 

Cinnoyhar. 

The development work on the cinnabar deposit, four 
miles above Kalmakof, on the Kuskokwim river, assays 
from nine to eighty per cent, quicksilver. The remarkable 


ALASKA AND ITS POSSIBILITIES. 


145 


feature of the ledge is the quantity of the ore and the low 
cost of mining. A. better word than ledge—quarry—seems 
to apply to this propert}^ It is 200 feet high, along which 
are two principal veins. 

Many are invading the Kuskokwim country this sum¬ 
mer. Several experts from Montana and New York are 
exploring the country. Five steamers are now in the river 
trade, stores are being established, one at the forks of the 
main stream, and the east fork, some 800 miles from its 
mouth on Bering Sea. Everything points to a heavy rush 
there in the spring, as the country is known to be rich in 
minerals. 

Tonnage. 

The mining camps of Alaska have received from Puget 
SouncUports this year (1906) over 250,000 tons of freight, in 
value many millions of dollars. The business continues to 
expand every year. The principal exports from Alaska are 
gold, copper, furs and canned salmon. The imports are 
everything that a rich, new country calls for,—in develop¬ 
ing the mines, building the home, feeding and clothing the 
people. It is the most valuable asset of the United States. 

The people of Alaska wish to convey many thanks to 
President Kichards and the delegates to the Congress at 
Portland and El Paso for their support in obtaining two 
representatives in the Federal Congress. It is predicted 
that it will give industrial development and advancement 
that was impossible without representation at Washington. 

\Ve also wish to tender our support for a Department 
of Mines and Mining. We of Alaska know it would be of 
inestimable value to the whole American people. We owe 
much to the officers of the United States Geological Survey, 
which is but a slight introduction to what a Cabinet Officer 
would be able to accomplish for the mining interests of 
our country. 

One of the greatest events of the year was the arrival 
of Capt. Koald Amundsen in his eighty-foot sloop, Gjoa, at 
Nome. He arrived by the way of the Northwest Passage 
from Norway, being the first man that ever made the trip. 
He was given a great reception by the people of the Seward 
Peninsula. 

Transportation. 

To-day the only means of travel is by water, sled, foot 
or horseback. Major Eichardson is building a few miles of 
government wagon roads; if continued support is given him 
by Congress, his work will result in great benefit. 



146 


PROCEEDINGS 'AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


Railroads are building tliat will give relief and trans- 
l^ortation all the year to open ports on the Pacific. 

For instance, tlie Alaska Short Line Railway will open 
a new empire of 120,000 square miles, rich in all things 
called for most. In minerals it compares with Colorado, 
Utah and Montana. It opens the richest and best agricul¬ 
tural lands in Alaska, in a most favorable climate, fully 
equal to any of the Northern states. It will connect with 
5,000 miles of navigable rivers' and lakes, with a sea port 
open every day in the year at Iliamna bay. Cook inlet. 

Alaska offers great oiiportunity to mining men or those 
interested in mining. It is ^^et an infant in its SAvaddling 
clothes, but in a few years more it will rank amongst the 
greatest producers of gold, copper, cinnabar, tin, iron, bis¬ 
muth, coal and oil. For the number of its inhabitants, it 
outranks, per capita, any of the mineral producing states 
to-day. 



V 


Amendments Advisable to State Laws Affecting 

Mining Operations 

» 

BY WILSON I. SNYDER, SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH. 

I might properly treat this subject by simply saying: 

(1.) Repeal the useless laws, of which there are many, 
in all mining states. 

(2.) Make the remaining laws uniform. 

Accomplish this in one of two ways: 

(a.) Relegate the entire subject to Federal legisla- 
iion, or 

(b.) Appoint a commission consisting of one member 
from each mining state to formulate proper legislation to 
be submitted to the legislatures of all the mining states of 
the Public Domain class. 

But, inasmuch as there should be reasons for all radh 
t‘al changes in legislation, it is necessary to advance those 
reasons^ and to particularize at some length the changes 
that seem desirable. 

In the first place, respecting state laws governing the 
hjcation and operation of mines on the jiublic domain, the 
Legislatures should be put right as to the limits to valid 
legislation on this subject. It is believed that the only war¬ 
rant for state legislation respecting the manner of locating 
and holding mining claims upon the public domain is to be 
found in the first sentence of Section 2324, R. S. U. S. Of 
course, this does not include inherent police power, nor the 
matters provided in Section 2338 respecting easements, etc., 
which I shall not further notice here. 

Therefore, all laws respecting the manner of locating 
and holding mining claims on the public domain, which do 
not find their warrant in this sentence, are void; they are 
denominated ^hiseless laws.’’ 

Somewhat in the interest of perspicuity, let me say: 
Tlie chiefest elements of value of any system of laws are 
uniformit}^, certainty and stability. These, of course, so 
far as the matter is capable of reservation by Congress, 
could be more accurately secured by amendments to the 
Federal laws so as to sufficiently cover the question as it 
related to mining operations within the public domain 
states. But, further than that, and as to other states, it 



148 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


could be secured onlv bv amendment to tlie Federal con- 

t/ «/ 

stitution. 

But, if the Federal statutes were amended and en¬ 
larged, much present mischief could be corrected. 

Tlie laws ought to be so that a location made in a legal 
wa}^ in Utah, and sufficient to satisfy the laws there, would, 
if nmde in the same way be equally valid in Colorado, Mon¬ 
tana or Nevada. Under existing conditions, with the mani¬ 
fold variations in state legislation on the same subject, a 
law^^er in Utah, who can successfully advise as to the man¬ 
ner of making a valid location in tliat state, would be en¬ 
tirely at sea in Montana or Nevada, and would have to 
advise with caution, and after a careful examination of 
the statutes and the adjudged cases. 

How much more serious and difficult must it be for 
the jirospector to comply with the law! 

An<] Avhen it is remembered that the law is supposed 
to have been made for the benefit of the prospector, the in¬ 
justice becomes all the more glaring. 

Nor is the situation overstated. 

Within the last vear a decision was rendered in one of 

c/ 

the states, wherein a location failed, because the discovery 
shaft was not sufficientlv described in the location certifi- 
cate or record of the claim. ^Fhe reason of the statute, the 
court declared, was in order that the record might show 
that the statute had been complied with, but the^ourt did 
not state what the result would be if the record falsely 
showed such compliance. 

Another case was reversed because the location certifi¬ 
cate or record did not contain a description of the markings 
on the corner posts. 

At least one jurisdiction has the rather remarkable 
requirement that the location certificate shall in cases of 
relocation, state, ^df the whole or any part of the new loca¬ 
tion is made as abandoned property, else it shall be void.’’ 
And this provision has been upheld by the highest court in 
that jurisdiction; the court going so far as to point it out 
where not raised by either party. 

The court also found it necessary to. legislate into the 
section the additional words ^ffir forfeited.” 

The objection to this legislation is that it imposes hard¬ 
ships sometimes impossible of performance; for example, a 
claim might be lawfully located by a preliminary notice in 
any one of the several states permitting such, and allow¬ 
ing, say, ninety days in which to do discovery work, stake 
and record; none of these acts being done in time, the claim 






AMENDMENTS ADVISABLE TO STATE LAWS. 


149 


is forfeited just as much as if it lapsed for want of assess¬ 
ment work, after being held for several years; there may 
be no evidence on the ground indicating a previous loca¬ 
tion, yet at the peril of forfeiting his location, the locator 
must specify the fact in his location certificate. 

Legislation along reasonable lines was, of course, con¬ 
templated by the enactment of Section 2324, It. S. U. S., but 
if these matters are to i^emain in the hands of state legis¬ 
latures, a strong effort should be made to harmonize them; 
to expunge all useless provisions, and to reduce the remain¬ 
ing provisions to lines of justice and reason; using, for that 
purpose, simple and plain language. 

But, the better plan would be to repeal that part of 
Section 2324, B. S. U. S., whicli confers upon mining dis¬ 
tricts and therefore state legislatures, the right to legislate 
upon certain matters, and thus reserve the entire subject 
to Congress; then with such simple amendments, as to loca¬ 
tion work, marking the boundaries and recording, as expe¬ 
rience has shown to be wise,xthe atmosphere would be ma¬ 
terially cleared. 

While we are talking of amendments, the entire mining 
law could be recast to advantage. 

Especially should Section 2323 be repealed, or the . 
rights of tunnel claimants materially restricted. Say, to 
at least 750 feet on each side of the center of the bore of 
the tunnel; what is meant by “reasonable diligence’’ should 
be definitelv declared, and a tunnel claimant should be re- 
quired to be as vigilant as any other in the matter of ad¬ 
verse proceedings. 

Perhaps the laAV establishing extralateral rights is too 
firmly rooted to admit of any amendment, l^erhaps it is 
not wise now to make suggestions respecting the advisabil¬ 
ity of establishing A^ertical boundaries, but at any rate, the 
manner of laying surface lines in making locations, can be 
prescribed Avith greater certainty and much mischief thus 
eliminated. For instance, let the lines be established by a 
public engineer in the first instance, and for that purpose 
let a surveyor of experience be appointed in each district 
to assist the prospector, at slight private expense, in 
making the location, and let the location be laid in all cases 
in the form of a parallelogram, unless surface erosions, or 
other causes, have so shaped the topography of the country 
as to make it impossible to cover the outcrop by a location 
so formed; encroachments should only be permitted to pro¬ 
vide for assertion of extralateral rights. 

In Mexico and other Spanish provinces a public officer 


I 


150 


PROCEEDINGS AMERICAN MINING CONGRESS. 


was required to assist in making a location—marking the 
pertenencias—and in the denouncement in case of an aban¬ 
doned mine. It seems to have worked well; and at all 
events such a proceeding would prevent the floating and 
shifting of boundaries, Avhich liave been the cause of so 
much litigation in this country. 

Such an amendment could be made practicable by in¬ 
serting a provision permitting the prospector to post any 
kind of a notice at the point of his discovery, stating the 
name, nature and extent of his claim, the direction along- 
the vein as near as practicable and his intention to have 
his lines properly marked. This notice should be sufficient 
to hold his claim for, say thirty days, within which he 
should be required to have his boundaries marked by the 
public surveyor, and immediately thereafter prepare his lo-= 
cation certificate and have it recorded. 

The surveyor should be required to describe the claim 
with such accuracy that, upon filing his field notes in the 
office of the surveyor general, a plat could be prepared for 
use in apphfing for patent, without the expense of a re¬ 
survey. 

It is believed that this and other desired reformations 
can be made possible, and uniformity secured, by reserving 
the whole matter to Congress, and that it is impracticable 
to accomplish it in any other way. 

The state statutes .regulating the operation of mines, 
quarries and oil or gas wells are many and varied. They 
are the outgrowth of the experience and necessities of the 
particular jurisdiction, and cover a variety of subjects. 
Some enlarge the definition of negligence as between mas¬ 
ter and servant; some are mere police regulations, while 
others partake of elements of both. State statutes provid¬ 
ing for miners’ liens are common to nearly all the states. 
While those requiring the use of safety cages and other 
safe appliances on cages used in vertical shafts; providing 
for ventilation, and in coal mines ^^propping, etc.,” are not 
uncommon. Likewise the right of eminent domain is ex¬ 
tended to mining in manv states. 

It is believed to be unnecessary to repeat these at 
length here, as I did that very carefully in 1902 in my work 
on mines. 

Such of these statutes as are general in their nature, 
for example, those providing for miners’ liens, eminent do¬ 
main, ventilation and similar subjects, should be as nearly 
uniform in their provisions as possible. 

The persons to wffiom the right to claim a miners’ lien 



AMENDMENTS ADVISABLE TO STATE LAWS. 


151 


extends should be definitely end uniformly fixed. For ex¬ 
ample, if it extends to a mine superintendent, a watchman 
and an ore hauler in one state, the same rule should apply 
in all others. 

The estate to which it attaches sliould likeAvise be cer¬ 
tainly definitely and uniforml}^ fixed. At least one state 
and one territorA" have extended it to the estate of an op¬ 
tionor or lessor of a mine operated under lease and option 
to purchase. This is unjust, and under proper notice of 
the manner and character of operation should not be per¬ 
mitted. 

Many of the states have Uxavs upon the subject of min¬ 
ing leases. These are essentially local in their line of 
thought, and it would seem impracticable to reduce them 
to a system; this may, hoAveA^er, become iiossible Avith ad¬ 
vanced experience. 

It may be a too radical thought to suggest the relega¬ 
tion of the entire subject of mining to the National Con¬ 
gress by an amendment to the Federal constitution, ’ but 
harmony and uniformity are much to be desired, and if they 
cannot be attained in one way, they should be in another. 


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